Harry Potter and the Broken Starlight
by IdTheSwordsman
Summary: The simplest things can spark the greatest changes, when Vernon Dursley receives a letter in the mail the life of Harry James Potter is forever altered. I don't own Harry Potter, Magical girl lyrical nanoha, or any other referenced material. Rated M for safety.
1. Chapter 1

Harry Potter and the Broken Starlight

Chapter 1

Number Four Privet Drive, was an unassuming three bedroom, detached house. With terracotta roof tiles, and sash windows. Built in the economic boom surrounding the end of the second world war, nestled amongst an estate of other such houses for a growing population in a period of new hope. What had once been a symbol of hope of prosperity and new beginnings, was now the picture of model suburban living, being only an hour from the centre of London where people often needed to be, and about the same distance from several areas that epitomised the English countryside, where people wanted to be. All in all it was a very normal place to live.

Yet, at this house, amidst all of its suburban normalcy, something was different. It wasn't the door, that was normal enough, clean and brown like all the others in the street. It wasn't the garden, with its well-maintained grass and neatly organised flower beds. It wasn't the car on the drive, slightly newer than the others in the street, a recent model silver estate. It wasn't even the family that lived there, a horse faced woman with a long neck and shrill voice, or the porpoise of a man, with beady greedy eyes and a ridiculous moustache, even their whale of a son, more apt to roll out of the house than walk. It was however the boy who lived with them.

They said he was a delinquent, a thief, a natural criminal. They called him a thug, a bully, a monster waiting to happen if he was to appear one day on the news, the neighbours would be there to say that they knew he was trouble all along, after all they had heard the worst things about him and more. The boy himself was actually rather unassuming. He was a small child, barely looking six or seven, belying the fact he would be nine this year. He had messy black hair, a true rats nest, some would say it was black as the soul he didn't have. His most striking though were his eyes, those shocking vibrant green eyes that showed the world an intelligence that was all too often overlooked by many. From his eyes people would be drawn to the scar, an unsightly thing, shaped like a lightning bolt, red and raw, barely covered by his messy fringe. One must wonder what misdeeds earned him such a brand, as the one marking his brow.

At six in the morning Harry James Potter, woke up to begin the first of his days chores. It was a Saturday, that meant that he had to do collect the laundry, sort, wash, and dry it. Then make sandwiches for lunch, maybe tuna today, then fold the laundry, mow the gardens, then weed the flower beds, finally he had to prep the food for Sunday lunch tomorrow. He actually quite liked the gardening part, it often got dark as he was finishing and he liked to look at the stars. He liked to count them, and knew a lot of their names. He liked to count a lot of things and did math in his head often to make his chores go faster.

First though, breakfast. Going to the kitchen he gathered the pan and a bowl from the cupboard, and the ingredients from the fridge. He then began to wash up with the cold water from the sink. At half past, the post arrived, so turning the heat down on the hob he went to collect it. Checking for any junk mail he placed the letters on the table for uncle Vernon to open at breakfast. As seven 'o'clock his aunt Petunia arrived down stairs, poured herself a tea and sat down to eat. Ten minutes later uncle Vernon came down the stairs, and pouring a coffee, also sat to eat, a larger pate of food than his wife as was natural. Finally at half seven Dudley arrived taking the largest plate of food and a glass of milk, began to gorge himself. After washing up Harry sat down with a small plate of leftovers, as Vernon began reading the post.

"Bill, bill, bank statement, new credit card, wait, it can't be, I never thought I'd get it though." He mumbled in surprise as he turned over the last letter in the pile.

"What, is it sweetums?" asked Petunia.

"do you remember that promotion I put in for, an opportunity in the head office of the company that owns Grunnings." He said, as a frown of thought crossed his face.

"Wait, the one in Japan, what about it?"

"Well, I got the job, I thought I did poorly in the interview. I was just applying so that they knew I was looking in case something more local came up." A small frown crossed his face, "they only want me there for a year, but they already made arrangements for my replacement. Now I can't just say no or I'll be out of a job. Their offering good money, and are covering our housing for the year. Actually we could rent this pace out for the year and probably get enough to spend on a nice holiday for the next few years." He thought greedily planning a way to make the most of what had happened.

"What's a Jahpen?" interrupted Dudley, his mouth full of food.

"Japan, didumms is a place, very far away, I think some of you toys are made there." Answered Petunia a note of concern in her voice.

"Now, Pet, it's only a year, it'll do the boy some good to see a bit of the world, make him thankful for what we have."

"It's not that , what are we going to do with _him_." She said a note of distaste in her voice.

"I suppose we'll have to take him with us, their expecting two children at the school over there. It would look odd if he didn't come. You better be grateful for this boy, if it were up to me you'd be out on the street, not eating the food of my table, under the roof I work hard to keep over our heads." He finished threateningly. "Maybe, maybe…" he trailed off the beginnings of an idea forming in his head.

This was how a month later a small boy who liked counting the stars found himself in an airplane bound for the other side of the world, with all his worldly possessions tucked into a worn backpack under his seat. For the past month, Harry had been working hard, learning about Japan. On the Monday after Vernon's announcement he went to the school library and checked out all the books on japan he could. Upon discovering that they spoke a different language he tried to learn as much of it as he could. He got a English Japanese dictionary, and all the learning tapes he could find at the library, salvaging a player from Dudley's second bedroom. While he was learning his desire to learn the language reacted to his own burgeoning magic, causing the magic to form a basic level of occlumency letting him process languages very easily, when he had gotten to a decent level with Japanese he tried to learn from some of the other language tapes in the library, and finally he got quite a bit of conversational German, as well as a good grasp on French.

When they arrived they were quickly whisked away by a chauffeur to an apartment building in a town near Tokyo called Uminari city. The apartment itself was nice, a three bed flat with a kitchenette diner and living room as a central hub with a bathroom off to the side. With it being a company property and with cleaners coming once a week as such, Harry was given his own room to keep up appearances. Closing his door he unpacked his bag taking out all his worldly positions, a few packs of broken crayons, his school stationary, and his salvaged player, he'd convinced the librarian to load as many language tapes as she could onto it before he left. She'd even put some music on there saying that everyone should have a chance to experience some classical music in their lives.

A week after they arrived it was March, and schools in Japan were just starting a new school year. For Harry and Dudley this meant they would be joining their new classes, and because of the defence in the school year here, for the first time they were in different classes and school years. When they arrived they were whisked to different parts of the school, only when the teacher got to the class did he realise a mistake had been made. Harry had been placed into the wrong class, the class he had been placed into was a normal Japanese class full of local students, when Harry first arrived, as he had been in the same year as Dudley in his old school it was assumed he would be in the same class here, an English speaking class for the children of foreign employees. However as there was nobody else his age here this year the class he should be attending had been cancelled for this year. When the teacher tried to explain this to Harry he was surprised when he received a reply in clear Japanese.

"I can speak and understand Japanese at a conversational level," Harry said in a clear way, "however I will require some assistance with reading, if this can be done I should be able to stay in this class."

The teacher overcoming his shock thought about this for a moment and said "I shall assign you to sit next to Bannings-san, her family is half English so she can use the language quite well, I will ask her to assist you in class for the while."

Upon entering the classroom Harry was asked about himself. Smiling to cover his nervousness in front of so many new people he took a deep breath and said "Hello my name is Harry Potter, I'm new here and I hope we can be friends. I like gardening and watching the night sky, I don't like being chased about, and in the future I would like to see the world."

"Thank you Harry-kun. Please take a seat next to Alisa-san there, and Alisa-san if you could help Harry-kun in class that would be much appreciated, thank you."

Once Harry took his seat next to the pretty brunette girl with greenie blue eyes, the teacher began the lessons, at first break Alisa took him to one side to ask what it was that he needed help in. Harry then explained that he had mostly taught himself Japanese through language tapes, and he had gotten good enough in the language to understand everything that was said well enough, though he still had trouble if people were talking to quickly, or with slang or some accents. His real problem is nobody had taught him how to read Japanese so while he could read the basic texts, he couldn't read much kanji and would need someone to help with them. Alisa said she could help with this and said she would like to introduce him to her other friends at lunch.

At lunch she dragged him to the roof where he was introduced to Tsukimura Suzuka and Takamachi Nanoha. The first was another pretty girl with long black hair held back with a white Alice band and blue eyes. The second was also pretty, with her brown hair in two tails at the back tied with white ribbons, her eyes were also blue, but more of a blue grey colour he had seen many people in the area had. They were also really friendly to him. They asked about Brittan and where he lived before, they asked how he learned Japanese. Suzuka told him about her family and her wish to be an engineer, Nanoha told him about her family and the Midori-ya café, the talked for a while trading recipes for all sorts of things when it became apparent that he could cook.

When the day ended the teacher approached Harry about whether he wanted to join any of the after school activities clubs. With a thought he asked if they had any that would help with his reading, or possibly something like self-defence, admitting he had suffered some bullying at his old school, saying that it was because he was the smallest in the class, afraid to mention Dudley or the other Dursleys in case they heard about it. The teacher suggested calligraphy and kendo, saying they were on alternating days, as they were ran by the same teacher. He agreed saying he would check with his guardians about it, thinking on how to get them to agree to the idea.

With a thought he decided to just tell them a teacher was keeping him behind each day to catch up on work. That wouldn't even be a lie as he would be working and a teacher would be keeping them there. It just be for different reasons than he would admit to them. So from that first day Harry left school with a spring in his step because, all in one day he had been separated from Dudley, made what could be his first long term friends, and been offered a way to keep himself away from the Dersleys until nearly bed time six days a week. Yes things were indeed looking up for one Harry James Potter.

In the weeks that followed Harry would get up every day at six as usual, he would make breakfast and prepare lunch for the Dursleys and eat his own breakfast of leftovers. He sometimes experimented with the recipes that Nanoha gave him, but the Dursleys didn't like what they called that foreign muck though only really eating the curry he had made. How Dudley had still managed to gain weight was almost a total mystery to Harry, but he suspected it was something to do with the amount of sweets he ate.

After breakfast he would leave at half past seven to walk to school and arrive five minutes before eight and be in his seat ready for class. In classes he would work as hard as possible, before he would limit himself so as to not outshine Dudley, but without him there he could do well in classes without fear of much reprisal. In classes he got the highest grades in maths and language classes matching Nanoha for the first and Alisa for the second, he was in the half of the class for most subjects, though he only got average scores in Japanese language and history. Though the first was creeping up as he got more proficient with reading, and he had a good head for facts he just didn't grow up learning the history of Japan like the others did, but even here he was showing some improvement. At lunch he would meet with the girls and they would eat lunch then either talk, play, or work on their homework. The school provided lunches and Harry was grateful for them, this meant that he could keep his packed lunch for later.

When class ended for the day he would avoid Dudley on his way home and head to either the classroom where calligraphy was taught on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, or to the kendo hall on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Both clubs were taught by Goudou-sensei, an older teacher in his late fifties, with grey hair and a stern gaze for any he caught messing around in his classes. He had been teaching for most of his life and had been a kendo instructor for longer still, in short the old man was as tough as nails and half again as stubborn often covering for the PE teacher while she was off on maternity leave. Goudou-sensei was considered to be a good teacher because for all his sternness he cared for all his students.

Club activities ended around half five in the evening where Harry would eat the bento he had made and start to walk home. When he got home he would try to sneak past the Dursleys, if he could he would get to the bathroom and wash up both himself and his cloths, get a cup of water from the sink and go to his room, where he would water the plants he had hidden on the windowsill outside. If he was caught he would be asked where he was to which he would reply that he had stayed behind after school with a teacher to get some work done. Petunia assuming this meant he was struggling in class would then smile in glee before berating the boy for being so stupid, "why couldn't you be more like my Duddeykinns, he doesn't stay after class, the smart young boy. Now shoo you freak." Before he could rush to his room having to wash his cloths and water the plants in the morning, meaning he would have to run in the morning or be late.

On Sundays Harry would try to meet up with his friends. This was both more and less difficult than one might think, most weeks this would mean going to the midori-ya café. To do this Harry would wake up at his usual time and make breakfast, while the Dursleys gorged themselves on sausages, bacon, eggs, and other greasy foods, Harry would make a sandwich for himself and sneak out of the front door and down the stairs. He would then walk the two miles to the shop, after getting the directions from Nanoha he had realised that the two of them lived close enough together that they could meet easily enough. If they were meeting with Alisa and Suzuka they would get a lift of Nanoha's brother Kyouya, and they would visit their houses, the park, or something like that. Otherwise they would stay at the midori-ya or Nanoha's house. On the days they didn't meet up he would help out in the café, cleaning dishes, or helping prep the food, and in return, Nanoha's mother Momoko taught him how to bake and cook the recipes in the café, they would also give him some pocket money that he mostly tried to save away, it was usually only 1000 yen a time but he would keep it hidden away stashed in a shoe box he hid behind the incinerator at the apartments.

Far away in dreary England the Jones' family, were congratulating themselves on so much going right in their lives. The Jones were both squibs that had decided to elope together when Annabell Smith, had fell in love with Thomas Goyle. The pair had both ran away from overbearing pureblood families at a young age, and were placed into the same foster home at the age of 11 when they never received a Hogarts letter. Both had been picked up by the police for shoplifting in muggle London. Both thrived without the presence of their oppressive families, attending university and becoming a nurse and a lawyer respectively. The each did well for themselves, until they were found by their families again.

The Smith family wanted to force Annabell into a marriage with her uncle to try to continue their family line after, her young nephew Zacharias had an accident around a potions experiment, that according to the healers at St Mungo's had left him sterile. The Goyles wanted to kill Thomas, erasing the blight on their families name, and he had been hiding from them for years. They had met in a bar and recognised each other almost immediately they fell in love immediately as what started as a one night stand became two, and then a week, then another. The last passionate throws of two lost souls, soon to be gone from the world. All was at an end when Annabell discovered she was pregnant, Thomas immediately proposed. Upon finding a house to rent in sleepy Surry, the two snapped up the years tenancy agreement, the house would do fine for the year while they got together the money for a deposit for something better.

Over the course of the year the wards over the house, placed unknown to all its occupants fed for the first time on as they were meant to. They fed on the magic of the bond between the unborn child and its parents, and on the unrestrained magic of the unborn squib child. As Andrew Jones grew in his mother his developing magic was constantly drained forcing his core to grow to compensate. His parents stayed at home as much as they could to hide from their respective families, never knowing the wards on the property were doing just that for them causing them to be completely forgotten by their families never to be bothered by them again. Years later Andrew Jones would receive a letter to a reformed Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he would study hard for the sake of living his parents dreams, getting straight O's in his O.W.L's and N.E.W.T's, get a desk job at the ministry for magic and go on to become the minister of magic. However this is not his tale, but something that would come to be in the distant future.

In a high tower in a bustling castile hidden away as near as the top of the world as a person could comfortably be, and old man turned to make his ritual check on a series of various whatsits and deodars, placed hidden from view in a cupboard in the corner of the room. Taking a cursory glance over the various baubles on the shelves, dismissing most as superfluous to his needs, the wizened old man looked at the most important two. The first showed the man the life force of its intended target, in this case one Harry James Potter. The second showed whether a specific set of wards over a house in Surry, had been charging that day, indicating that, as the only person with even a smattering of magic on the property Harry was still there that day, living with his only living relatives. Closing the cupboard, one Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore sat at his desk, comforted and secure in the knowledge that the boy he would mould into his champion was safe and secure, just where he wanted him to be.

Half a planet away Harry could scarcely believe that the last month had happened. Since arriving in Japan, he had gained almost everything he had ever desired. At school he was learning well and he had made several friends, he barely saw the Dersleys anymore. He was feeling happier and healthier than he ever had before. He'd even been given an old pair of glasses by Momoko that had belonged to dear friend of her grandfather Doumeki Shizuka, they had apparently been given to the man in case they might come in handy in the future. They helped his eyes much better than his old ones and he kept them with him at all times safe and hidden away from the Dursleys. Unknown to Harry his magic that had kept him alive, staving off his malnutrition, helped him grow very strong very quickly. With all the exercise he was getting and with eating three healthy meals a day, and supplemented by the nutrients that a concerned Goudou-sensei had asked the dinner ladies to slip the boy when he saw how worryingly thin he was in practice, he had gone from the smallest in his class to just slightly taller than his friends, with compact unseen muscles.

As Harry went to bed that night a month after he started school in Japan, he had no idea how the simple events of the next day would shape the rest of his life to come.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry Potter and the Broken Starlight

Chapter 2

On the first Monday of April, Harry Potter was running. He was late out of the door that morning after being held up by uncle Vernon, he had been griping about his new job. Apparently nothing was going right for him here, unlike in Brittan he had no seniority so he was forced to do all of the work he would have passed off to a subordinate at home himself. He also didn't understand many of the people working around him, this meant that he was losing clients almost every day when he said or did something that offended them. Of course this couldn't be his own fault, it must be the freaks, and he let him know as such. For about ten minutes at breakfast he was subjected to Vernon's ire, he was used to this, it had happened before but he had never seen his uncle so mad, at least not without one of the strange accidents or the mention of the word magic.

He also hadn't gotten the best night sleep, he had been having a weird dream about a voice calling him for help. Harry was no stranger to strange dreams, but this one was different than his usual nightmares of screaming and green light. He shook himself awake as he was forced to run before the school gates closed. Arriving just before the bell covered in sweat and tired, he took his seat as classes began. At lunch he found himself cornered by a concerned Alisa, "Harry, are you OK? It's not like you to be so late for class, when you arrived you looked like you had just ran all the way to school."

He tried not to meet her gazes as he answered, "That would be because I did have to run all the way to school, something happened and I got held up this morning."

"would this something have to do with that bruise on the back of your neck." Nanoha asked grabbing the collar of his shirt to get a proper look at the purplish yellow mark forming there. Harry flinched away muttering a curse under his breath in English.

"what was that! Harry we are just concerned about you." Chided Alisa, before looking at him softly, "We're you friends, and we're just worried about you."

"Harry, this isn't the first time we've seen you come to school with bruises. Don't write it off as an accident or from kendo either, we the difference." Suzuka said giving the boy a hard stare.

"Look guys it's fine. Look, you know Dudley in the international class?"

"Wait the kid who got thrown out of the class for bullying last week, what's he got to do with anything?" asked Alisa.

"He's my cousin, I live with my aunt and uncle, and well, have you ever heard the phrase the apple doesn't fall far from the tree?" he was starting to feel uncomfortable. "My uncle doesn't like me neither of them do. Something about being an unwanted burden being dumped on them. My uncle has been having a bad time at work so I caught the tail end of his temper this morning." He was starting to get desperate now, "Listen, because of Dudley I never had any friends at my old school. He would always chase them of when it looked like I'd make any, because he was mostly copying his parents. A few times a teacher or someone would talk to me about it, but every time they would say they would do something about it, the next day they would have gotten a new job, or moved, or just left for no real reason." He finished quietly, "Please, you guys are the first real friends I've ever made. Please, just drop it OK." And to his relief they did. The conversation turned to lighter things, like the talk in class on future careers and what they wanted to be when they had left school. From there the day continued on as normal, after class Harry had calligraphy with Goudou-sensei.

In calligraphy Harry could barely focus on the class. Goudou saw that something was off with the English boy He came up to him after class and asked him, "Harry-kun is everything alright with you, you were barely paying attention in my lesson today, normally you are one of my best students."

Harry looking up at the older man smiled weakly. He didn't want to lie to him if he could help it, he really liked the old man who had taught him so much, and he was always nice to Harry if a little strict at times, but Harry thought that was just part of being older, as many of the people he had met over fifty seemed to be rather stern. "I'm sorry sensei, I was running late this morning and had to run all the way to school, then at lunch I had something of an argument with my friends about it and I kind of pushed them away a bit. It was on my mind and I was a bit distracted."

Goudou simply nodded his head and hummed, "I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, a part of friendship is that sometimes you worry about you friends, and sometime you get into arguments. It will not mean the end of your friendship, it just means that you care enough about the other person to worry and argue with them if there appears to be a problem for them. I'm sure you'd go out of you way to help them if they needed it, and likewise you should let them worry about you."

"Thank you, sensei, I will take your advice to heart."

"and Harry one more thing, sometimes it is alright to ask for help with your problems, especially the ones that seem like far beyond you to solve, there are those who would help, even if the situation seems impossible." Said Goudou, smiling kindly at the boy.

"Sensei… thank you, for talking to me, you've given me a lot to think about." Harry said as he left to eat his dinner. Seeing the girls leaving their prep classes, he walked up to them. They decided to walk home together for as far as the park where they would have to split up. While they were walking Harry stopped the girls. Taking a breath, he said, "I have an apology to make, I was being a real prat at lunch, I'm sorry you three were only worried about me and I was upset because I don't like talking about my relatives. That's not an excuse for the way I behaved though."

They looked at each other and Nanoha said, "It's ok Harry, we probably shouldn't have pushed you like that we were just concerned, and we still are. Harry you do know you can come to any of us if you're having troubles at home right, I'm sure my parents won't mind if you come over. They seem to really like you."

As Harry was about to reply both he and Nanoha froze, "Did you hear that?" he asked

*H—p –e*

"It came from over there." Said Nanoha, rushing off into the woods.

*Ple-se, he-p -e.*

"I hear it to, over there." Called Harry. Finding a pile of leaves he began sifting through them. Under the deadfall he found a small animal, it was a mammal with four short legs and short blond fur, with a jewel wrapped around its neck. It had white patches on its muzzle and tail, and brown paws. "it's a ferret, or maybe a stoat, I'm not sure which." He mused tapping his chin contemplatively.

"Who cares what species it is, the poor thing is obviously hurt," said Suzuka, gently smacking Harry over the head, "besides I think it's a ferret, that jewel, it looks like it's someone's pet. They were a popular pets a while ago."

Nanoha passed Harry the books from her bag as she emptied it, then carefully she put the creature in her book bag, on top of a nest she had made from the cloth from her necktie and her handkerchief. "Alisa, your family were picking you to up today can they give us a lift to the vets office. They would know what to do with it." Getting a nod in return, the four left the park to where a car was waiting for them.

At the veterinary clinic the animal was taken quickly by the vet. Twenty minutes later vet came and told the news "It's a good thing you children brought him here. His cut wasn't as bad as it looked, but it was deep, he'll be fine with a bit of rest, but it looks like he'd been on his own for a while. You'd best leave him here for a few days." The four cheered up at this chorusing "thank you very much," at the doctor.

Looking over the animal themselves, Nanoha asked "Doctor, this is a ferret, right?"

"I wonder if it's somebodies pet." Alisa wondered out loud.

"it might be a ferret, but if it is, it's certainly unique. Also it has some kind of jewel around its neck." As the doctor went to touch the jewel, the animal woke up, much to the surprise of the five humans there. Then it turned around and stared at the children finally settling its eyes on Nanoha and Harry. Nanoha reached out to it and it licked her finger, before falling back to sleep. "It's best to let it get some rest, why don't I watch out for it for you four until tomorrow?"

"Yes, thank you very much!" called out the children.

"if you'd like you guys can come by tomorrow to see how it's doing."

Nanoha said "Yes please," then suddenly realising something exclaimed, "crap, we'll be late home if we don't leave now."

On the way home they discussed what they would do with the ferret. Nonoha suggested one of the other girls take it, but Alisa replied that they had dogs, so it might be a bad idea. Suzuka said it was the same problem with cats for her. Nanoha said she couldn't take it because her parents ran the midori-ya and animals and cafés didn't mix. When the three turned to Harry his reply was "Two puppies, three kittens, six goldfish, and a budgerigar."

"What kind of answer is that?!" yelled Alisa.

"That was the list of Dudely's pets growing up, not one lasted a month. The budgie didn't last two days. I should know I had to bury them all. Besides our apartment doesn't allow pets, it's rented by the company uncle Vernon works for, and they send cleaners around once a week to check on the place."

"Ah well, it's a shame but the dogs might not get along with the ferret, or I'd take it home." Said Alisa then seeing Harry give a shudder asked "what's wrong with you?"

Harry calming himself said "I'm not too fond of dogs, Vernon's sister, aunt Marge breads them. She has this nasty Yorkshire Terrier she takes everywhere with her, called Ripper, treats the thing like her child, last summer it attacked me and chased me up a tree, vile thing gave me a scar on my leg, see." He said raising his trouser leg to show a bite shaped scar on his shin. "While your dogs were fine when we met them, dogs still make me nervous. Nanoha I'm pretty sure if you asked Momoko and Shirou, they would let you keep it at yours, you would just have to keep it away from the kitchens and they have a lock on them anyway, it's worth asking." Deciding it was a good idea the four friends went their separate ways.

That night as Harry was about to go to sleep, he felt something shifting in the air. Surprised by the sensation, he closed his eyes and focused on it.

*Can you hear me?*

'It's that voice again' thought Harry, 'the one from my dream, and the park.'

*Please listen to me. You who can hear my voice, please! Please, lend me your strength!*

'That voice, it,,, it's the ferret.'

*Please! Please, hurry. There's no time. The danger…*

Deciding to go Harry snuck out of his room and out of the apartment. When he got downstairs he went to the incinerator where he hid some of his things from the Dursleys. Reaching into his hiding place he pulled out his boken for kendo and rushed off to the veterinary clinic where they took the ferret. On the way there he bumped into Nanoha, she yelled out "The ferret, we've got to hurry." Knowing that she received the same message she did chased after her. When they got to the clinic a sound rang out like a crystal bell, and the world seamed to turn grey, as an eerie howling rang out into the night.

Harry drew his weapon as the sound of crashing came from inside the clinic, when the rushed towards the entrance Nanoha called out as she spotted the ferret rush by. It was being chased by a large black mass with glowing red eyes, the groung shook as it charged past them after the small creature. The ferret dodged the monster, and jumped into the open arms of Nanoha, who fell to the floor. "W-what? What the hell is going on? What was that?!" she shouted in distress.

"You… came for me."

"holy crap, you spoke?! A talking ferret!" she yelled before regaining herself. Seeing the monster turn around Harry stepped between it and his friend as she got up grabbed his hand and ran.

While running away from the beast Harry called out "I really don't get what's going on here, but what is that thing?"

"You are both of the proper nature, would you please lend me some strength?"

"Proper nature?" asks Nanoha, "We could hear his voice earlier." Replied Harry.

"I've come from another world in search of something, but I don't think I can handle my task alone! That's why… I understand it'd be a problem for you, but… I want those with the proper nature to cooperate with me. I will repay you. I promise I will! I need one of you to use the power I have with me, to use the power, the power of magic."

Almost reflexively Harry said "Magic, but there's no such thing as magic." Sounding a little scared at what his uncle would do to him if he found out. Vernon hated magic and the most severe of the beatings he had receive over the years had been because of that fear of the unknown. Nanoha just looked confused but when she turned around she saw the monster return. Both of them dived behind separate lampposts for cover, the ferret was with Nanoha.

"I promise to repay you, so please!"

"This isn't the time to be talking about it, is it?" said Nanoha as Harry stepped out, sword at the ready, prepared to stand between his friend and the beast. "what am I supposed to do" she asked.

"Take this." Said the ferret passing her the jewel around his neck. Nanoha was surprised by how warm it was. "hold it in your hand, close your eyes and focus, then repeat after me." And together they chanted,

"I, the one who accepted this mission,

By the contract, order you to release you power!

The wind is the sky, the stars are the heavan.

And a resolute heart… beats within my chest.

This magic in my hand,

Raging Heart. Set UP!"

"STANDBY READY, SET UP."

As this was going on the beast prepared to charge at Nanoha sensing the threat the girl posed. When it tried, the monster was smashed away by the boken in Harry's hand. It charged once more as the glow around Nanoha grew. Harry was terrified, first he was told magic is real, by a talking rodent no less, then he and his friend had been attacked by a monster. He had barely blocked the beast first attempt at hurting his friend, and that should of killed him, he saw what this thing had done to a tree earlier. It had only been his lucky use of accidental magic that reinforced his limbs and weapon that had saved him from death before. Still there he stood as the thing charged at his friend again, he raised his sword as Goudou-sensei had shown him and brought it straight down on the monsters head as a huge pink beam of light shot into the sky. The monster flew back several feet, shocking Harry to the point that he froze up as the next charge came.

The monster jumped to attack the girl he was protecting. Harry turned to see the girl changed, no longer wearing her normal cloths, she was instead dressed in some kind of modified school uniform, and carrying a staff in her hands, the staff was made of metals with a white and stave caped with pink at the ends, and topped by a gold crook with a large red gem on the inside. The staff called out "PROTECTION" as a pink shield saved the girl from being crushed. The monster bounced away from the shield and blasted apart into the fences around the street. "What?!" was all Nanoha could say as Harry grabbed her hand and the began to flee.

"Spells are the programs for magic, embedded in the staff." Said the ferret as they ran, "That thing back there is a thought entity created by a horrible power. You need to cast a sealing spell on it with the staff, then it will turn back into what it was."

Passing the ferret to Harry Nanoha cried out, "I don't understand any of this what should I do?"

"The same thing you did earlier basic movements such as attacking and defending will happen just by wishing for them, but if you want to use more powerful spells you're going to have to use an incantation, all you have to do is open your heart. Listen to you heart and a spell will come to you." Replied the ferret, and closing her eyes Nanoha listened.

Just then the monster returned charging at the three. Harry took the opportunity to dive out of the way with the ferret as Nanoha raised the staff and it once again called out "PROTECTION". The attack the beast made was blocked, causing the creature to rear back. Nanoha cried out "Lyrical! Magical!..." "the thing you need to seal is called a jewel seed." Cried the ferret, "Sealing the jewel seed, please." And the staff called out "SEALING MODE, SET UP." As it fired several ribbons of light to bind the monster. A number appeared on the creatures head and the staff called "STANDBY READY" and raising the staff Nanoha shouted "Lyrical Magical! Jewel seed 21, Seal!" "SEALING" intoned the staff as more ribbons blasted the beast to pieces. On the torn up ground there was a shining gem.

The ferret said, "That is a jewel seed, touch it with the Raging Heart." And as she did the staff absorbed the gem and called "RECIPT NUMBER 21" before Nanoha was returned to her normal cloths and the staff returned to a gem. The world returned to colour and Harry asked, "so that's it, is it all over now?"

"Yes, thanks to you it's over, Thank you." Said the ferret before passing out.

"To your house then." Asked Harry collecting up the ferret, looking at the torn up street.

"Yea, maybe it's not the best idea to stick around. Oh that reminds me, you were right, mom and dad said we could keep this little fellow at our place." Replied Nanoha a little absentmindedly. "I'm really sorry about the mess." They cried as they ran away.

On the way back they stopped to rest at a park, the ferret woke up and said "I'm sorry."

Surprised Harry asked, "Oh, your awake, I hope I didn't wake you, are your wounds OK?"

"Actually, I'm almost completely healed." He admitted shaking off his bandages. "Again I'm sorry for getting you guys involved in all of this."

It was Harry that replied first, "It was no problem, actually, I'm grateful to you, tonight you have given me answers to questions I have long since asked myself."

"What do you mean?" asked the ferret.

"For as long as I can remember strange and unusual things have been happening around me when I was afraid or upset. A few times when I was being chased as a child I have suddenly found myself in impossible places like up a tree or on a roof, with no reason of how I got there. When my aunt would cut all of my hair off once a month it would grow back overnight and stay this way with no cause. One time I even turned one of my teachers hair blue. This explains almost everything."

"Really, now, Nanoha can you use Raging Heart to scan, Harry here." Asked the ferret, the girl nodded and focusing on the gem called the staff. This shocked The small mammal, but not as much as what the gem reported to the three.

"TARGET SCANED, TARGETS LINKER CORE IS BOUND BY ARTIFICIL POWER 18 BLOCKS TO B-CLASS LEVELS. TARGET IS BEING SUBJECTED TO 30 TIMES THE LEVELS OF LOCAL GRAVITY. TARGET IS AFLICTED WITH A MANA LEACH THAT IS DRAINING THEIR LINKER CORE. MEDICAL ASSISTACE IS ADVISED."

"What does that mean." Asked Harry.

The ferret gulped, "It means that somebody forcefully blocked most of your magic, and something has literally forced your body to grow up as if it was on Jupiter instead of Earth, or you wouldn't be able to move at all. Finally there is something feeding on your mana that is draining some of it from you constantly. Even with all of this you're as magically powerful as me." Causing Harry to go quiet.

Sensing the tension in the air, Nanoha said "well then lets introduce ourselves. I'm Takamachi Nanoha, but my friends call me Nanoha."

"I- I'm Harry Potter, but feel free to call me Harry."

"Well then my name is Scrya Yuuno, Scrya is my clan name and my name is Yuuno, please feel free to call me that." Said the now introduced, Yuuno.

"My, I forgot your still hurt, lets continue this at my house." Cried Nanoha, scooping up Yuuno, the three continued on their way, chatting benignly to each other.

Upon arriving at Nanoha's house the two children tried to sneak in. "Welcome back." Jumping and turning to the noise, Nanoha quickly hid Yuuno behind her back.

"Hey there, big brother."

"It's gotten late, where have you been, and why is Harry with you."

Nanoha choked, she couldn't think of what to say, then from behind them, came another voice. "it's so cute!"

"oh hay there Miyuki." Said Harry turning about to see the older girl behind them.

"Did you guts go to get him from the vet then, Nanoha." Asked Miyuki.

"Actually, we both heard some noises, and chose to see what was going on, we met on the way to the clinic, a few streets in the area are all torn up and this little guy seemed to have escaped, so something must have happened. We stopped in a park, and Nanoha was telling me about your decision to let her look after the little thing, so we came back here." Explained Harry.

"So why are you carrying a boken, Harry?" asked Kyoya.

"I'm new to the city, who knows what kind of weirdos are about this time of night. It's why I came back here with Nanoha, because your place is closer."

"Well, you guys shouldn't have left like that without telling anyone." Scolded the older boy.

"We're sorry." They coursed together.

Deciding it was for the best that Harry stayed for the night they sent the children to bed to deal with them in the morning.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry Potter and the Broken Starlight

Chapter 3

The next morning Harry awoke in an unfamiliar place, not quite registering the change, he wandered down to the kitchen to cook breakfast. He was surprised to find that he wasn't the only person there. Momoko was in the kitchen starting breakfast, "Oh, Harry-kun, you're up rather early dear. Sit down while I start breakfast." Harry was shocked by this development, he had been the one to make breakfast for as long as he could remember.

"Would you like any help with that, Takamachi-san." He offered, surprising Momoko, usually she would never ask a guest to help with the meals. However the look she could see on Harry's face she considered if a moment and asked, "could you crack a half dozen eggs into a bowl for omelettes, please Harry-kun."

Harry got to his feet and Momoko quickly found he was actually a deft hand in the kitchen so kept finding things for him to do. Soon the food was ready and she asked, "Harry could you wake Nanoha please. She's going to make you both late for school otherwise." leaving to get the girl he ran up the stairs and knocked on the door.

"Coming." She replied. "ah, it's you Harry, what's up?"

"The sky. Your mother asked me to call you for breakfast. Hey Yuuno."

"Hey"

Nanoha turned to the ferret saying "We can continue this later Yuuno. We have to go to school now but you can stay here if you want."

"Why? Just because were not together doesn't mean we can't talk to each other." Said Yuuno.

"Huh."

*You seem to forget you're a mage now* sent Yuuno telepathically.

Nanoha then thought for a second and said, "Oh, that thing you did to call us before."

"Right all you have to do is focus on Raging Heart, and think about what you want to say." Explained Yuuno.

"What about me?" Asked Harry. Yuuno looked sheepish at this and said he would maintain the link until Harry was used to feeling his magic himself.

When the pair got to school they were greeted by a concerned Alisa and Suzuka. They had heard that a car had gone through the wall of the clinic where they had left Yuuno yesterday. Nanoha started to get nervous as she tried to tell the story Harry had told her Kyouya last night. She didn't quite get everything right but got a convincing enough tale for the two girls.

"I'm glad he's safe at your place, Nanoha" Alisa said, sighing in relief.

"Yea, still what a coincidence. You two were really lucky to find the ferret in the street like that." Said Suzuka, smiling.

Harry noticing Nanoha was nervous at lying to her friends piped in, "Yea, and Nanoha's parents said he could stay, so Nanoha is looking after him for the time being."

"It looks like he didn't belong to anyone either." Finished Nanoha.

The girls smiled at this and Suzuka asked, "Well, have you thought of a name for him yet?"

"Yep, we decided to call him Yuuno." Replied Nanoha.

"Yuuno?" questioned the girls.

"Yep, Yuuno." Replied Harry as the bell rang for class.

In class Yuuno contacted them via telepathy, in the back of Harry's head he heard, *Where I come from the jewel seeds are considered ancient treasures, they're magic stones that grant the wishes of whoever holds them, but their power is very unstable. On their own they sometimes go out of control like the one last night. They destroy everything in their search for a user, and if something or someone finds them and misuses their power, the stones can turn on them and go bezerk.*

Nanoha asked, *What are dangerous things like that doing in our neighbourhood?*

*It's all my fault.* Yuuno admitted with a sigh, *Back where I come from, I'm what you'd call an archaeologist. I was on a dig one day and I found something inside a monument, I sent it off to a team of researchers and asked them to study it, but the time space transporter that was carrying them had some sort of accident and was destroyed, and now 21 jewel seeds have been scattered all over this world. So far I've only been able to find two of them.*

*So, nineteen more to go.* finished Nanoha as class changed to second period. *Wait, hold on s second Yuuno, you said there was an accident, right. That's why the jewel seeds got scattered, if it was an accident then it's not really your fault.*

*But I was the one who found them I the first place. Now it's my responsibility to find them and take them back where they belong.* declared Yuuno.

Harry wondered if he could join the conversation. As the words rang through his mind he could feel an odd thrumming sensation between his chest and his stomach. Focusing on it and thinking about Nanoha and Yuuno, he tried to send them a message *Testing, testing, can you guys hear me*

*Harry* asks a surprised Yuuno, *Was that you?*

*Ah, great, that worked. I Just focused on the feeling in my gut I got from your messages, anyway, it's all well and good that your taking responsibility and all, but if you're about to suggest that you do this all on your own then don't bother. We both know that this job is to big and too important for one person. Besides Nanoha is way too stubborn to let a friend do something like this alone.*

*Hey!* yelled Nanoha, *but he's right, though, I'd never consider abandoning a friend like that.*

*Still, I want to apologise for getting you two involved in all this, I just need a week, no five days to recover my magic…*

*What will happen when you recover your magic?* asked Nanoha.

*I'll continue searching for the jewel seeds, alo-* started Yuuno

*Don't say that, Yuuno, we just told you we'd never leave a friend out to dry like that.* interrupted Harry, *You're our friend, Yuuno.*

*We can't help you while we're at school, or in clubs, or prep school, but after that we can definitely help out.* declared Nanoha.

Yuuno said in a worried tone, "but you'll be putting yourselves in danger, like last night.*

*And you won't.* retorted Harry *Besides, it will be safer for all of us to work together.*

Nanoha sighed at the boys banter, *If things like that monster start showing up in the neighbourhood it will mean trouble for everyone, right, and another thing your all alone Yuuno, its got to be lonely all by yourself. So let us help you OK.* The final bell rang as Nanoha continued, *The way I see it, if someone needs your help and you have the power to help them out, there shouldn't be a doubt as to what you should do. That's something my dad taught me. You're in trouble Yuuno, but you don't have to do this alone, we can help. I don't know if I'll ever become a real mage, but with you help, I'm sure I'll get the hang of it.*

*But your already a mage, Nanoha. Actually I think you and Harry have more talent for it than I do.*

This surprises the girl, *Really?* she asks. *I'm not so sure about that, but please teach us everything you can.*

*I will, thank you.* replied Yuuno. Then Harry sent, *Sorry, I have to go now I have kendo now, you guys can contact me if anything comes up.* before leaving Nanoha with Alisa and Suzuka.

At the kendo hall Harry saw Goudou-sensei, he was standing outside the hall doing a head count on the students that were attending. "Sensei, I want to thank you for your advice yesterday. It really helped me."

"Hello there Harry-kun, I'm glad to hear that. Did you consider the other things I talked to you about." Asked the older man, a slightly hopeful look in his eye.

Harry looked away at that, he knew he was being hypocritical not asking for help from the dusleys, but he really like Goudou-sensei and he just didn't want him to disappear from his life like the others who had tried to help. "I… I'm still thinking about it, sensei." He mumbled as he quickly slid into the hall. He regretted lying to the kind man, but he just wanted to protect him. He thought maybe the answer to why things like this happened to him was the magic he had learned about last night. If he could only learn more about it then maybe he could… he really didn't know, but he felt a need to learn more about magic. The subject raised so many questions for him, why was his magic so severely limited? Who had done that and why? Did his aunt and uncle know? He thought they had to, given their past reactions to the topic.

In class Harry thought about magic. He thought about how he had survived last night. He wasn't going to delude himself, what he had done in that fight was stupid and dangerous. Still he knew he should be street pizza right now, or at least healing up in the hospital from multiple broken bones. Thinking back on it, he guessed he must have used his magic subconsciously to protect himself. He could think of a few times where he should have been much more hurt than he was growing up, particularly when he had been caught by Dudley and his gang. Feeling for the place in his chest he'd focused on for telepathy earlier he tried to feel the energy inside of it, then finding it simple enough to move he tried to move it to his limbs as he practiced swinging the sword. Suddenly he found himself swinging a lot faster than he had intended to and when he tried to slow himself. The sword came to a stop with an audible crack.

Feeling a soreness in his arms Harry decided that maybe he should stop mucking about with this until he could talk to Yuuno about it later. As the class passed he tried to move more of the magic through his body, more slowly this time. He noticed he could control how much he sped up by, by varying the amount he used, and by the end of class the pain in his arms from that first swing seemed to have disappeared completely. So packing away his things and taking a quick shower he left the kendo hall that day satisfied with his discoveries .

On the way back to the Dursley's apartment, Harry felt an unusual feeling in the air. It felt like the whole world was completely choked with the energy he had felt in himself. However instead of feeling warm and safe, with the occasional twinge of something else, this feeling was cold and full of something primal, like the feeling he got when something strange happened in sight of uncle Vernon. Like the times he knew the man was going to do something vicious to him. Harry stumbled and then telepathically called out, *NANOHA! YUUNO! Did you feel that?*

*Yuuno, what was that thing?* came Nanoha's mental voice, breathing a sigh of relief that she wasn't yet in danger, he undid the tie on the bag for his boken, and uncovered the end as Yuuno's voice rang through his mind. *Another jewel seeds' been activated, it's really close.*

*Yuuno what should I do?* asked Nanoha nervously.

*We should go over there together.* came Yuunos reply. That was all the instruction Harry needed. He set of at a run in the direction he had felt the malignant feeling coming from.

After a few minutes he came across the steps of a shrine. Rushing between the red tori he drew his weapon from its bag and charged up the stairs. At the top he came across a fainted woman and the what he could only describe as a hellhound. It reminded Harry of the hound of the Baskervilles, from Sherlock Holms, with four blazing red eyes and a mouth full of menacing fangs the beast stared at Harry. Harry poured his mana through his body and to his legs as he charged forwards throwing himself between the monster and the helpless woman. He channelled the energy through his arms and into the boken as he swung at the ribs of the monster. "OK, never complaining about Ripper again." He remarked as the monster was thrown back only to land on its feet and unleash a might howl into the air.

"Nanoha, the Raging Heart." He heard Yuuno call out from behind him. "Right!" called Nanoha.

"Look its already possessed an animal." Called Yuuno.

"Thank you, captain obvious!" snarked Harry, uncomfortable around the massive dog.

"It will be harder to defeat now that it has a body." Explained Yuuno.

Nanoha declares "It'll be OK, I think." Mumbling the last part.

Yuuno turns to Nanoha and says, "Nanoha, activate the Raging Heart." To which she asks, "Wait… how do I do that again?" causing the ferret to face fault.

"Huh, he's coming!" she cried as the hellhound charged her. "Recite the password. Say 'I am the one who has been given a mission.'" Instructs Yuuno climbing onto her shoulder.

"The what?" cries Nanoha intelligently. "Wait what did you say? It's way too long to remember."

Taking a breath the ferret replies, "Stay calm, repeat after me." But before he can get anything out the beast roars and lunges at Nanoha only to flinch back at the bright pink light coming from the girl and Harry body checks the thing nocking it back towards the trees by the shrine.

In shock Nanoha whispers, "Alright Raging Heart."

"STANDBY READY, SET UP." Calls the s]gem now a staff with a final glow of light.

'She activated the staff without a password.' Thought Yuuno in awe. Then the monster charges the pair once and the ferret prompts, "Nanoha, activate your armour."

"BARRIER JACKET" calls Raging Heart as pink light surrounds Nanoha and the demonic looking dog collides with her. Yuuno jumps next to the tori and he and Harry cry out to Nanoha. The dust clears to reveal the girl, knocked to the floor but uninjured, in her armour. The hellhound jumps down from the tori at her once more just to be intercepted by a strong barrier, the shock from the blow stunning the beast, dropping it to the floor. 'That attack didn't even scratch her,' thought Yuuno, 'I knew it, that girl is incredibly talented, they both are seeing as Harry was able to knock that thing around until we got here.'

"OK, that didn't hurt as much as I thought it would, I guess I'm supposed to do that sealing thing now. Raging Heart, if you would." "ALRIGHT. SEALING MODE, SET UP." And with a spin the beast was bound in pink ribbons of light. The numeral for 16 appeared on the things head and the staff called, "STANDBY READY."

This was Nanoha's cue, "Lyrical! Magical! Jewel seed, serial 16, seal!", "SEALING." With that the hellhound returned to being a dog and the gem was drawn into the red jewel of Raging Heart. "RECIPT NUMBER 16" called the staff and Nanoha sighed, "So, was that good enough Yuuno?" she asked.

"Yes, it couldn't have gone any better than that." Replies the ferret, and as Harry comes over saying, " I'll give you a six for execution, but top marks for effort, and the finish was brilliant." Making her laugh a bit.

The stayed around until the woman who had passed out, woke up, and Harry took the time to ask Yuuno about the reinforcement he was doing to his body. "That sounds a bit like the Strike Arts, a martial art that uses mana to reinforce a mages body. Though you surprised me finding you linker core like you did, this is a good thing, it means I can teach you some simple spells you can do without a device like Raging Heart. They won't be very powerful though, but some can be very useful in certain situations. I want you to be careful though from what you've told me you already seen the risks in overcharging your muscles in practice."

"Thanks Yuuno. I'll call you later about those spells. But for now I have to get home." He said with a grimace. As he ran off he couldn't help the pang of jealousy as he heard Nanoha talking about going home for a snack, knowing the only thing waiting for him at home was the Dursley's cold indifference and probably a beating for not having breakfast on the table this morning at the worst. Slowly he made his way back to the apartment where they were staying, silently dreading what was to come. Before he went inside he hid his boken back in his spot an covering it over made his way to the elevator. Making his way to the front door he knocked and waited.

He waited and waited, but nobody came. It was quiet and the spring air was starting to get cold as he waited in the exposed corridor outside the apartment. As time passed Harry was forced to curl himself up in his school jacket, periodically cycling his magic through his body to stave off the cold. Eventually exhausted from the last two days Harry moved himself from the hall, to the stairwell and curled up out of the wind, falling asleep. When he next awoke it was to a wave of pain across his ribs. "Wake up! Boy, Wake UP!" shouted a voice in English as another wave of pain swept over him.

Uncle Vernon stood over him, his face an angry puce colour. "Where have you been, eh, boy?" he called darkly at the boy. "Of gallivanting about in the middle of the night." Another swift kick, this one he caught on his arm. "Well, where have you been, disappearing in the middle of the night, to appear like the urchin outside our house a day later. Not so much as a by your leave. We just wake up to find no breakfast on the table and an empty room. We take you in out of the goodness of our hearts and this is how you repay us!" he finishes with another kick. Harry allows this one to send him careening away, trying to catch his breath.

"Th-*chough* there was an accident." He manages to splutter out between gasps. "A car went through the wall of a vets a few blocks from here, I saw it and went to see if I could help."

"Oh, and what use would a freak like you be? No good shite, ought to have put you down years ago." Vernon muttered darkly. "That still doesn't explain where you were this morning." He says.

Panting heavily Harry manages to choke out, "A girl from my class, her pet was there, she went to check on it and by the time we caught it her parents said they didn't want me wandering around in the dark, insisted I stayed the night. I couldn't say no, I would have looked bad on them, so I went straight to school from there. I couldn't call I don't know the number for the apartment." Lying wasn't hard when he could barely breath through the pain he was in.

Vernon was unsympathetic, he grabbed the boy by the ear and dragged him back to the apartment. Once inside he threw the boy into his room, causing him to smash against the floor. "You will stay there till morning, and I expect there to be breakfast on the table when I wake up in the morning or woe betide you, I will make you wish for the pain you're feeling now, so help me." Spat Vernon slamming the door behind him as he left.

When Harry could breathe enough to focus he tried to use his magic to numb the pain he was feeling. He could barely feel anything where his linker core was, having drained it in the fight and keeping himself warm till the Durselys arrived. He was exhausted, both in mind and body. He could barely keep his eyes open to focus on his task. Eventually he was forced to rest, the exertion he was making causing him to pass out. In the morning Harry awoke to the twinge of pain in his ribs. Checking the watch he had tucked away in his things, he saw that it was just pass six. He checked his linker core and found to his surprise that it was back to the levels from before his kendo practice the previous day. Cycling mana through his body he felt instantly relived as the power in him worked to undo the damage to his bones.

Checking his plants he was surprised to find them unmolested on the windowsill outside his window. He thought Vernon would have thrown them out if he searched his room for him, but they must not have looked if it was all still there. Harry decided to not look the gift horse in the mouth, got out his language tapes and began to listen to them as he went about his morning routine. He thought back on the events of the last couple of days, pondering what it could all mean.

'First off.' He thought, 'magic is real. Real as can be, and I can use it, as a mage, that's what Yuuno called us.' He couldn't help but giggle a bit at that. 'Second point, aliens are real, Yuuno said he came from a different world, so did the jewel seeds for that matter. So they are real and capable of magic, but where does that leave me. Someone put blocks on my magic, a lot of them if what the look on Yuuno's face was anything to go by, but who and how. It wasn't the Dursleys they don't have magic, so maybe my parents. No that doesn't seem right, the Dursleys have said a lot of horrible things about them but I don't think any of them are true, they've lied to me too much to believe them. Then who, and the, what was it, mana leach. Maybe dad was an alien and mum was like Nanoha, but that still doesn't explain anything. Maybe there's already magic users on earth, or there was and they just stay hidden, in fear of people reacting like the Dursleys do.'

As Harry cooked and pondered his existence, he came to a resolve that one day, he would have his answers and maybe depending on what he found he would have a place in the world. One where he was free, to just be Harry, to be happy like everyone else. And if he didn't like what he found maybe he would hitch a ride with Yuuno, go and see the stars he always looked up at and wondered about. Go to see for himself what was out there for him, beyond the reach of anyone.

Far away in a castle in Scotland, an old man in a high tower planed he next move in the game he played, never knowing that with a simple thought the pawn he had been nurturing for his end game. The one he would guide along the path he had set, becoming his queen and final trump. Had with a thought taken the first steps on his own path. One very different than the one laid out for him. Where that path would take him was yet unknown and what he may become at the end was yet to be seen. He may become a rook, or a bishop. He may become a knight or a queen. He may decide to just leave the table, or maybe take a seat among the players. One thing was for certain, with a thought Harry James Potter had just taken control of his own destiny.

* * *

Author Note.

I just want to say thank you to everyone who have read and reviewed so far, I am grateful for the support.

for this story I intend to keep the chapters at between 4000 and 5000 each. so it might take a few days between chapters some times but I've been on a bit of a writing binge recently.


	4. Chapter 4

Harry Potter and the Broken Starlight

Chapter 4

It was late evening and the sun had long since sank under the horizon. All was quiet and peaceful in Uminari city, nothing was out of place, except for two children and a ferret standing in the courtyard of their school. They were there long after any teacher had left for the night, for a purpose far different from learning. Harry Potter, Takamachi Nanoha, and Yuuno Scrya, had come to find a jewel seed, a magical artefact of great and terrible power, and seal it away. In the yard stood Nanoha staff in hand as the trio approached the gem. "STANDBY READY." Announced Raging Heart. "Lyrical! Magical! Jewel seed serial 20! Seal!" cried out Nanoha, as the staff intoned "SEALING." And a blast of pink light lit up the night sky.

The jewel seed appeared with the receipt number inscribed on it. They had been, in Harry's opinion, quite lucky recently, in the last week they had found two jewel seeds, and neither of them had been activated like the previous two. This meant that Nanoha just had to place a seal on them and collect them into the Raging Heart. It had given Harry the time for his ribs to heal and his magic to recover from his encounter with his uncle and he was feeling much better for it. Nanoha on the other hand didn't look like she was doing as well as harry though, she seemed tired, from staying up looking for the seeds with him and Yuuno, and from using her magic.

It was as the three were walking along Yuuno and Harry noticed that Nanoha was starting to flag behind them. "Nanoha, are you alright?" asked the ferret, a note of concern in his voice. Nanoha jumped a little, "Yeah, I'm OK, I'm just a little, a little tir-" she began before falling asleep there in the street, "Nanoha!" cried Harry as he caught the collapsing girl, but it was no good, she was dead to the world, "Oh well, You just get some rest. Yuuno can you deactivate Raging Heart, and I'll carry her home." Getting a nod from the ferret he put Nanoha onto his back and waited for Yuuno to finish.

As the boys set off down the road, they talked about inconsequential things, about japan and the things they both liked here. Yuuno told Harry more about his home, growing up amongst the Scrya clan and about his trips all over the universe. He told him about the places he'd seen and the things he'd learnt about ancient cultures. Harry told Yuuno about earth, about growing up in England and what the differences between there and Japan were. He talked about the languages he was learning and what he knew of the cultures surrounding each one, like the French and the Germans. Yuuno was quite surprised to hear him speak German because it sounded nearly exactly like ancient Belkan, one of the galactic cultures he knew about.

As the group came near Nanoha's home Harry thought of asking Yuuno about leaving with him once all the jewel seeds were collected. As he was about to ask the ferret, they came to the front gate, and a rather worried looking Takamachi Shirou, who asked, "Hello Harry, where have you guys been?" Harry thinking fast thought up something on the spot, blurted out, "I'm sorry Shirou-san, this is my fault. We challenged each other to see who could run the furthest. I led us in the opposite direction to our houses and we had to walk back. Nanoha sat down on a bench to rest for a bit, but fell asleep on the way back. I waited for her to wake up but it got dark so I started to carry her home." He lied, quickly sending Yuuno a telepathic message to tell Nanoha this when she woke up.

"Well then come on in, actually I'm glad I saw you today, I was going to ask if you wouldn't mind playing some soccer tomorrow, one of the players for my team is sick and we need to have three substitutes to comply with league regulations." Asked Shirou. Harry was confused for a moment then he remembered what soccer was the American word for football. He was flattered that the man had thought of him, and he didn't mind playing at all, though he didn't think that he would be very good as he had never had much practice. "Sure, I don't mind one bit. I'm not sure I'll be that good though."

Shirou smiled at this, and said, "you'll be fine, I mostly need someone to fill in for the substitute defender. I think you would do quite well in midfield, moving the ball up the pitch to the strikers. Is it OK for you to meet us here at eight tomorrow."

"Sure, Shirou-san but I should be getting off now. Night Nanoha. Night Yuuno." Said Harry as he started to jog down the street. That night he was able to sneak in past the Dursleys, who were all in bed, then take a quick shower and settle down for a rest till the morning. The next day once Harry finished clearing breakfast, he made his way out of the apartments, and gathering a few hundred yen from his stash, made is way down the road towards the Takamachi's house. Twenty minutes later he arrived and knocked on the door to be greeted by Miyuki, "Hey there Harry-kun, dad said you were coming this morning, he left a spare uniform on the side for you, you can change in the bathroom." She said as she hurried him in to the hall. Along the way he saw Yuuno coming the other way, and seeing Harry the ferret scurried up his trouser leg and onto his shoulders. *Morning Harry,* came the telepathic greeting, *I told Nanoha what you said last night, I don't think she likes lying to her parents like this though.*

Harry smiled at the sight of his friend and said, "Good morning to you to, Yuuno." Continuing telepathically *I know, she's good like that, but her family are good people, and I don't think they'd stop her if they found out. However they would worry she was in danger constantly, mostly I think that she wants to spare them that. You saw Shirou waiting up for her last night didn't you, that's without him knowing she's getting into fights with monsters and what not.* Entering the bathroom and locking the door to change, somewhat forgetting Yuuno was with him. As he was taking off his shirt Yuuno called out "WHAT THE HELL, HARRY!" before Harry could silence him. Miyuki hearing a noise called out if he was ok, and Harry replied that he was fine he just stubbed his toe a little.

*Sorry for shouting like that, but seriously Harry you have scars all over your back. Some of them look really bad too.* Sent Yuuno. He was really worried for his friend who had helped him so easily despite it regularly putting him in danger without a device or a barrier jacket like Nanoha. He was afraid that he had gotten hurt helping him somehow and he hadn't noticed. Harry just sighed, he really didn't want to go into this right now. Not wanting to be over heard, he sets himself in for a long telepathic conversation, but first he asks, "Yuuno can you make it so Nanoha can't listen in on this conversation, she, Alisa, and Suzuka, already know bits of this, but not all of the details." Getting a nod from the ferret he begins.

*I told you I live with my cousin, aunt and uncle, right?* eliciting a nod from the ferret, *What I didn't tell you was that I was abandoned on their doorstep one morning in the middle of winter, and that they have resented taking me in ever since. I don't even know why they did it, my uncle has said time and again how much better their lives would be if I was to just disappear or they just took me to an orphanage. When I was growing up with them sometimes Vernon would get angry with something, be it me, or he had a bad day at work, or something, anything would just go wrong for him, and it would be my fault. Sometimes he would just yell at me, saying that it was my fault because I was a freak… sometimes it would be more than that.* Harry didn't continue after that, he just went silent as he left the bathroom with his cloths under his arm. Yuuno didn't say anything either, how could he, he knew sometimes the universe could be a terrible place, he had studied some of the worst of what people were capable of, but this was the first time it had become so real to him.

*Yuuno, can I ask you a question?* Harry asked, shocking the other boy out of his thoughts, *I think somebody is purposely kept me with the Dursleys, people have tried to help before, teachers, and some others, they always end up suddenly leaving for some reason. I think… never mind. Yuuno, I was going to ask, once we collected the jewel seeds, when you leave, can I go with you?* Yuuno was stunned again by what his new friend had just asked, he hadn't really thought about what would happen once the jewel seeds were collected. He didn't even know if what he was being asked was legal, but he knew Harry had meant what he had asked, and like him, his friend really needed some help. Nanoha must have been rubbing of on him because he didn't even think about it before saying *I'll try.*

When Nanoha finally appeared after getting dressed, Harry noticed she didn't look well at all. He thought she was all but running a fever, and her cheeks were red and puffy. She said she was fine when he asked, but he could tell she was still really tired, but guessed she should be OK as long as she didn't do much. Shirou took them in his car to the match where he introduced Harry to the team. Once they had warm ups out of the way Harry found himself on the substitutes bench next to the bench with Alisa, Suzuka, and Nanoha. The match was going well for Shirou's team, Midori-ya JFC and by half time they were one nil up, the team looking relaxed and ready to go, except for the boy playing right defence. He had taken a bad near the end of the half and it was starting to affect him.

Seeing this Shirou had little option and called "Harry-kun, you're in for the next half, you're my only listed substitute for defence." And that was how Harry ended up in the game for the second half. He was glad of the girls cheering him on then, as it gave him the confidence to get up and play with the rest of the team, most of them being older boys from their school. As the match progressed Harry found that he actually enjoyed playing with the others and once he got his confidence up he was very good at the game, his small size and natural quickness letting him get in front of opposing players and get the ball away from them easily. For the shots that did get past him the boy on goal was very good at stopping the long shots Harry often couldn't reach.

After the match the team had won two nil and they had decided to celebrate they would go to the Midori-ya café for a snack. At the café the girls sat outside to enjoy the sunshine, and as Harry went up to them he was dragged off by the rest of the team to celebrate the victory with cake and to learn more about their new player. After they had finished Shirou lined up the team to thank them one last time before dismissing them, and walking over to the girls Harry sat with them to ask how their day had been. Alisa was the first to congratulate him on the game and Suzuka told him that he had played very well. Nanoha seemed to still be half asleep, cut congratulated him as well. It was then that Harry saw the team goalie take something out of his bag and put it into his pocket, he wasn't sure but it looked like a gem and he thought it might have been a jewel seed.

It was then that Shirou came over to the group to offer the girls and harry a lift home. Alisa and Suzuka said that they were both being picked up. Harry himself said that he had something to do that afternoon and asked if it was OK to give Nanoha the uniform he was wearing in the morning after he washed it. *Yuuno, I thought I might have seen someone with a jewel seed, I don't want to get Nanoha involved yet in case I'm wrong, she looks like she could really use some rest.* he sent the ferret telepathically. Yuuno was surprised, but agreed with him sending *Call for us if it looks like it is a jewel seed.*

Then Harry walked off to give chase to the goalie and his girlfriend. He tailed the couple for a while listening to them talk, apparently he'd made quite an impression on the team, not just for being smaller than everyone else, but because he had played well. As they came to a quiet road lined with small trees Harry stopped for a bit to both keep his distance from the couple and to get a drink with the money he had brought earlier. The couple came to an intersection while he was making his choice at the vending machine, when the boy reached into his pocket for something to give to the girl. As he bent down to grab his beverage Harry saw the older boy pull out a blue gem and show it to the girl. It was definitely a jewel seed and it appeared not to be active yet. He was about to call for Yuuno and Nanoha when the girl reached for the jewel seed and the world exploded.

*"Yuuno, Nanoha, do you hear me, this is an emergency!"* he cried out in his panic both speaking both verbally and telepathically. Then the ground beneath him erupted as tree roots burst for from the ground. Only his quick reflexes saved him from being crushed by debris or bound up in tree roots as they wound their way down the street. He reinforced his body to his limit as he was forced to jump away from branch after branch that sprang up around him. *Harry, what's going on out there.* he heard Nanoha call through his mind. *Long story short, thought I saw a jewel seed, followed the person with it, it activated and now downtown looks like a scene from day of the triffids.* sent Harry feeling a little sarcastic at the moment, as he dodged yet another branch. Now he was at roof level he tried to duck down a fire escape to avoid any more plant growth. *Day of the what now? All I'm seeing are the giant trees all over town.* was the intelligent reply from Nanoha. Harry swore then and there that he was going to get some proper English literature in that girl just as soon as he wasn't stuck in his own Lovecraftian nightmare.

Finally the trees stopped growing and was able to send, *Nanoha, things have calmed down around here, where are you.* after a moment she sent *Going to the roof of your apartments, it's got the best view of the area.* thinking about where he was he decided to go straight there. *I'm on my way, don't see what help I can be down here anyway.* then using the shield spell Yuuno had taught him he made some platforms beneath his feet that allowed him to go from roof to roof in the direction of his building. The town was messed up but Harry couldn't see anybody who appeared to be hurt or trapped. He thanked whatever gods may be for small mercies as he approached the building, seeing Nanoha going up the outer stairwell.

He got to the roof in time to see her finish changing Raging Heart into a staff and put on her barrier jacket. He heard Yuuno tell her "This is what happens when a human uses a jewel seed, when a person wishes hard enough it uses that to activate. If you put too much of your heart into it the seed releases all its power."

Seeing the forlorn look on Nanoha's face Harry understood that she saw the same thing he had at the café, and was blaming herself for not doing something. "Nanoha, I know that look, this is not your fault. I was right there when it was activated, there was no way you could have prevented this. I also told Yuuno not to say anything to you when I went to check if what we saw was a jewel seed. This is not your fault." Hearing that Nanoha still had a sad look on her face, but after a moment Raging Heart began to glow and he eyes filled with resolve. "What do I do?" Nanoha asked, "What do I do now, Yuuno." She asked the stunned ferret more firmly this time.

Thinking for a moment Yuuno said, "You have to get close to it, in order to seal it, but first you have to find the place where it sprouted. Its grown so big though I don't know where to start looking. Harry did you see anything." Harry thought about what he had seen and said, "Yes, sort of, I came from that direction," he said pointing to their left, "and I saw the Midori-ya JFC goalie and his girlfriend with the stone in an orange shield, but I lost track of where they were exactly dodging the tree itself."

"It's a good start." Said Nanoha who raised Raging Heart who called out "AREA SEARCH" and Nanoha swung the staff as a magic circle appeared at her feet and she chanted, "Lyrical! Magical! Search for the root of this terrible misfortune!" Dozens upon dozens of pink lights shot out all over town. Harry could only look on in amazement at the display before him, finding his own resolve that one day he would become more than just the boy who could only stand by and watch as his friend pushed themselves past the limit as he could only watch on. After a minute of searching Nanoha declared "Found them. Now I can seal it away."

"It's impossible from here you'll have to get closer." Explained Yuuno. "I can do it, we can do it can't we Raging Heart." said Nanoha raising the staff in the air as it intoned, "SHOOTING MODE, SET UP." With that the staff extended and became more like a lance or halberd and a glowing ball of magic appeared at the end circled in mathematical formulae. "Go on then and capture the seed!" shouted Nanoha. The ball became a beam of light that flew across town and Nanoha closed her eyes for one last chant. "STANDBY READY." Confirmed Raging Heart, "Lyrical! Magical! Jewel seed serial 10. Seal it away!" she shouted as another much more concentrated blast came from the end of the staff. As the light engulfed the town Raging Heart confirmed in its flat voice "SEALING. RECIPT NUMBER 10."

As the jewel flashed into the staff it called "MODE RELEASE." And Nanoha replied "Thank you very much Raging Heart." Before the staff called "GOODBYE" and returned to its gem form, dispelling the barrier jacket. Looking at the sunset Nanoha said, "I bet we bothered a lot of people today, didn't we?"

"What are you talking about, Nanoha you're doing a great job." Said Yuuno reassuringly.

Nanoha shook her head, "I thought I'd seen him with one but I wasn't sure." She said dejectedly. Harry just pats her on the shoulder and says, "This still wasn't your fault, just like I told you earlier, it was just bad luck, sometimes things like this just happen." still she didn't look like she would be letting this go and in the end all they could do is sit and watch the sunset together.

A while later Harry was walking Nanoha home and she still hadn't said anything, refusing to talk except for the most basic responses. Eventually they passed the young couple who had, had the jewel seed, limping home after their ordeal. This seemed to resolve something for the near catatonic girl, who without prompting grabbed both Yuuno and Harry and said, "Right, I've been taking this to lightly, so from now on I'm giving this my all. 110%." Her piece said she ran off towards her house.

When they got there they to the Takamichi's home, they were greeted by Momoko who had been worried about them being out after the news had reported that there had been an earthquake downtown. Harry told her Nanoha had been checking on him at his apartment. It had been the first time he had been caught in such a large scale event as an earthquake, siting that they didn't get them in Brittan. She offered to let him clean up in the bath upstairs, and he thought that would be a good idea as he had left some cloths there earlier. He did apologise for not getting the chance to wash the uniform he was wearing before returning it, but Momoko brushed it off as inconsequential.

While in the bath Harry had another conversation with Yuuno, *Yuuno, could you please watch over Nanoha for a bit, I'm worried she is going to push herself too far one of these days.* the ferret could only nod at that. *Sure Harry, but make sure that you don't push yourself too far either, I know that you got across town way to fast to be normal today.* Harry just flushed at that. *Sorry, I just feel so… useless, sometimes. You've felt it as well I'd bet. Nanoha does so much and I feel like sometimes I'm just there to watch her fight alone. You saw what happened today, I was about as much use as a fart in a hurricane compared to her.* Admitted Harry as he dived below the water. Yuuno looked at Harry in an understanding way, he too had felt his own limitations around the girl who could almost be considered a force of nature. Then Yuuno piped up, *You know that it won't always be this way for you Harry. You have a massive amount of potential and a good head on your shoulders in a fight. It probably won't be too long before you get up to her level, beyond that, maybe*.

After that they just sat there for a moment in comfortable silence. *So, what is this 'Day of the Triffids' you mentioned?* questioned Yuuno, and like that they slipped back into their comfortable routine of telling one another bits and pieces about their lives. Harry started explaining how he spent a lot of time in the library growing up, and how he had gotten into reading from spending so much time in them. He told him about his favourite stories and some of the more interesting books he had read. Yuuno told him about the infinite library on midchilda and some of the fables he had been taught growing up. Eventually it became time for Harry to go, but he kept up his conversation with Yuuno adding Nanoha to the group after leaving the bathroom. He even went through with his promise to explain some classic pieces of English literature to the girl, and by the time they went to bed that night the three were feeling much better about their failings that day and ready to face the world again in the morning.

* * *

Author Note

Thank you again for those who reviewed, particularly the reviewer who pointed out my mistake with the linker cores. I have made the appropriate edits there.

Please feel free to point out any other such mistakes to me and I will try to correct them.

In the meantime please R&R.


	5. Chapter 5

Harry Potter and the Broken Starlight

Chapter 5

It was a beautiful spring day in Uminari city and Harry Potter woke up as usual to the sun rising to the dawn of a fresh Sunday morning. Opening the window he took in the fresh morning air before setting about his morning chores. Once he had breakfast made and all three Dursley's had gone off for the day leaving Harry alone in the house he gathered up his shoes and checking that everything was in order before he left snuck out the front door to go to the Midori-ya, as had become his tradition over the last two months.

As he walked he checked in with Nanoha and Yuuno telepathically. *Morning Harry, you seem to be in a good mood today.* came Yuuno's reply. He sounded like he had just woken up and Harry was worried that he had been the one to do it.

*I'm sorry did I wake you, I didn't mean to. I thought that you and Nanoha would already be awake.* he sent out apologetically to the small mammal.

Yuuno was surprised until he looked at the clock in Nanoha's room and seeing it was almost nine he panicked and called out, *Oh no! is it that late already. Sorry Harry, we both overslept, I'll wake Nanoha now, Suzuka sent her a text last night inviting you two over for tea last night, we're going to be late if she doesn't get up soon.*

Harry sighed in relief, *That's OK then, I was just on my way to the Midori-ya but I can head to Nanoha's place and meet up with you guys there instead. I wonder if we'll have tea in the garden, it's a lovely day for it.* Then reaching the end of the road he changed direction to head towards his friend's house. On the road he started to practice the shooting spell that Yuuno had taught him, as the red glowing orb of the spell formed in his hand he started to play keep ups with a can he found lying in the street. He was sort of amused when Yuuno introduced him to the exercise, informing the ferret that this was actually a common game played in England, but with a ball and the players feet.

It was actually the boys favourite topic of conversation, both Harry and Yuuno had bonded over a shared love of learning about new cultures, Yuuno through his archaeology and Harry through the languages and places of countries and planets he would like to see. Harry got to the main road before knocking the can into the bin and ending the spell so that it wouldn't be seen by the people walking by. He had gotten up to about thirty points on the can when he tried the exercise and was improving at any opportunity he got.

* * *

When Harry arrived at the Takamachi household he was greeted by Nanoha's older sister Miyuki "Come in Harry-kun, are you waiting for Nanoha? I'm afraid that she's still asleep if you are."

Seeing the older girl greet him kindly he smiled up at her and replied, "Its ok, I expected as much, we were both supposed to go to Suzuka's house this afternoon so I thought that it would be easier to catch the bus with her and Kyouya-san, I just ended up coming a little early, Miyuki-san."

The older girl frowned a bit then and Harry was a little worried that he had said something wrong, then she smiled again and said, "Now Harry-kun your around her enough that your practically family at this point, call me Miyuki-nee." He smiled at this and was glad that the older girl thought that way of him saying "OK Miyuki-nee." She then turned on him asking, "Harry you've been learning kendo recently, correct? I was just about to start my morning practice, care to join me?"

Practically dragging the young mage to the practice hall and when she finally let him go he had resolved himself to a practice session with his newly declared older sister. He decided to look on the bright side, with all the magic practice he had been doing lately he felt that his swordsmanship could use some more work. He had been mostly restricted in when he can work on it to the three times a week he practiced after school, the rest of his free time taken up with magic and hunting for the jewel seeds.

Once the two worked through their warmups Miyuki faced the younger boy, grabbing three short bokken of the wall and handed the longest one to the boy saying, "That bokken is about the length of an average ninjato, with your smaller build and its straight edge I have a feeling you would fare better with that than a full katana or my short wakizashi swords. Give it a swing." He did so at her prompting, he found that the half meter of blade did work well for him. He'd be able to move around more freely than with his own bokken so he should be more agile in a fight. He would miss the range the longer sword provided against the monsters that jewel seeds often produced, but it shouldn't be a problem with his magic. He did wonder if he could extend the blade with magic if he needed to, it was something he would have to ask Yuuno about later.

As he finished going through the cuts he had been shown by Goudou-sensei Miyuki declared, "You seem to have the feel of that bokken down, and I was right that one does suit you. Anyway get over here so we can have a quick spar, I want to see how much talent you have for this." She then pulled him to the middle of the room so that they could have a quick match. They had forgone protective equipment, neither one feeling it would be necessary for a light spar just to test Harry's potential when he had only a few months experience.

Harry and Miyuki stood bokken's raised, Harry with a two-handed grip and Miyuki with a short bokken in each hand, standing face to face. Harry knew that he probably could not win this spar, Miyuki had years of training and experience over him and he just couldn't match her for speed and power let alone skill without resorting to using magic to bolster himself. As their eyes met he shot forwards hoping to catch the older girl off her guard with a quick opening. He swung his wooden blade at her forearm, he hoped to use his weapons greater reach to overcome some of her advantages. She shifted her weight back, catching the attack on the blade he had hoped to disable, before bringing the second weapon to the boys neck.

"That wasn't bad, you clearly had more of a plan than to just attack me head on. You just need to work on not telegraphing you strikes so much. You left yourself open because you over extended yourself with a big strike where a small cut would have worked far better. Again!" Called Miyuki taking a stance. Harry nodded and moved back into position at the other end of the room.

Again the pair stood face to face and after a moment of watching one another for any sign of weakness Harry once again sprang into action. This time he moved to her side and made a shallow cut to her middle, to again be met by her forward blade. However when she had to turn to meet him with her counter attack he had time to slide back and regain his stance. He made a cut to her now extended arm hoping to make an opening for her neck, this was stopped only by Miyuki's skill and experience. She flowed like water around his strike with a level of grace Harry could scarcely believe, once more bringing her other blade to his neck ending the match.

Miyuki smiled down at the younger boy, "That was much better Harry, remember you won't always be facing opponents who are larger than you, like me, there is no need to make big open swings when a good sword can disable an opponent with just a small amount of power. Keep your defences up even when your attacking and you should be able to match most people your age." She looks down at the boy and with a thought says, "Tell you what, keep hold of that bokken, we got it as a practice weapon for Nanoha but she never really got into swordsmanship so it's just gathering dust here, now let's get to work." Before leading the boy through some of the basic sword drills her family had shown her to complete the session.

* * *

After practice the pair went into the living room to relax for a while before Yuuno came running into the room. Before Harry got much of a chance to see his friend Miyuki decided to play with the ferret the family had adopted as a pet, Harry stifled his giggles as he saw his usually serious friend being treated as a common house pet. A few moments later Kyouya walked in calling for Nanoha to hurry up, his appearance prompted Miyuki to say, "I heard you were headed over to the Tsukimura's house today. Bet your going over because you want to hang out with Shinobu, right?" A knowing look on the girls face.

Kyouya looked away mumbling, "I guess, since I'm going over there anyway…" he was saved from any further embarrassment as Nanoha arrived declaring "OK I'm ready!" Kyouya turns to the excited girl telling her that it was about time she got ready. Harry jumped to his feet to greet his classmate and fellow mage surprising the girl who hadn't noticed he was there yet. Yuuno then made a bolt from Miyuki's hands to climb on the girls shoulders as Kyouya sighed, "Come on you two, the bus won't wait." They left the house and moved to the local bus stop chatting away about the day while they waited.

Arriving at the Tsukimura's house, a huge red-brick manor house surrounded by forests, the three approached the door as Kyouya rang the doorbell. The group were greeted by a tall woman with light purple hair, she was dressed in a tasteful maid outfit, "Lord Kyouya, Lady Nanoha, Lord Harry. It's good to see you." Said the maid politely. "Hi, Noelle." Replied Nanoha smiling up at the maid.

Noelle lead them through to the atrium where Suzuka and Alisa were having tea with Suzuka's older sister Shinobu, surrounded by several cats. The cats were everywhere in the room and Harry was reminded of Mrs Figg his elderly neighbour back in England. The old woman had several cats that seemed to have the run of the house whenever he had been left in her care when the Dursley's had gone on a trip and left him behind. On seeing the trio arrive Suzuka calls out, "Hi Nanoha, Hi Harry."

"Hi Suzuka." Call Harry and Nanoha together. Then another young woman dressed in a maid outfit calls out, "Oh, hello you two, how ya been?" This was Noelle's sister Farin.

Before the pair could answer they were interrupted by Shinobu moving over to greet Kyouya. Noelle offered to make more tea for the guests calling Farin to help her. Shinobu told them she and Kyouya would be up in her room before the for older people left leaving the children to themselves. Sitting at the table the girls begin to gossip about Kyouya and Shinobu and how close the two seem, Harry didn't really get it but was content to let the girls chatter away. As the girls talked Harry watched Yuuno climb out of Nanoha's backpack, the look on his face when he was approached by a particularly curious kitten was just priceless.

Eventually the conversation turned awkward as Alisa asked how Nanoha had been, and Suzuka explained that she had seemed tired and depressed for a while now. Harry knew that Nanoha was still beating herself up over her failure to prevent a jewel seed from activating a few weeks back, and had only recently started to get over it somewhat. "If you're worried about something you know you can tell us about it, I mean that is what friends are for, right?" Says Suzuka comfortingly, "We're here for you if you need to talk." Nanoha looked like she was about to tear up, however the moment was ruined by Yuuno's cries for help as the curious kitten had decided to chase the small mammal around the room.

Unfortunately at the same time Farin arrived with the tea and some snacks on a tray. The ferret and kitten dived between her legs knocking the young maid off balance. Before she could fall to the floor Nanoha and Suzuka were behind her to catch her mid fall, Harry caught the plates that fell from the tray before they broke on the carpet and took the tray off the unbalanced girl taking it to the table to serve. Farin seeing what had happened began to apologise profusely for the accident, much to the amusement of those present, no damage had been done and in the end it was just amusing. Harry however did collect Yuuno from the floor to prevent anymore incidents.

* * *

Later in the day the four were having tea in the gardens enjoying the lovely weather and the cats that seemed ever present throughout the Tsukimura household. Nanoha and Harry were just commenting on the number of cats as Suzuka explained that some of them would soon be adopted, to go to good homes as they were old enough to be weaned. That was when Harry and Nanoha felt the familiar sense of energy in the air of a jewel seed activating. *Yuuno, did you feel that?* sent Harry telipathically.

*How can we leave without raising suspicion?* asked Nanoha to the boys.

Yuuno looked around for a moment before sending, *Got it.* to the others, he then leaped away into the forest surrounding the gardens. "Yuuno, come back." Cried Nanoha, jumping up after him.

"Do you want us to help?" Asked Suzuka, but Harry stood up saying, "It's OK girls, I'll help her, you two can just relax, OK." Before running after the fleeing ferret himself.

In the woods behind the house Yuuno said, "we'll be seen her, I'm going to create a barrier." As Nanoha and Harry caught up to him.

Nanoha asked, "What's a barrier?" confused by the ferrets statement. Yuuno explained "You were standing in one the night we met, it stalls the flow of time in normal space so we can use our magic without being noticed. Don't worry I'm pretty good at it." he declared before a glowing greenie white magic circle appeared beneath their feet, "I can't cut out a space that is too large, but if it's only the house and these woods, I can do it." and the world around them tinged grey in a familiar manner as the three mages forged on.

It didn't take them long to find their target as through the treetops appeared a giant kitten, it had to be at least fifteen foot high. The ground shook as the giant kitten paced about the forest, the three mages were left speechless at the sight. "Th-that's a big cat." Said Nanoha with a flat tone. "That's what I would call a properly granted wish." Stated Yuuno, earning him a funny look from Harry, he continued, "The kitten wanted to be bigger and it sure is big now." When he put it that way Harry couldn't help but agree with the ferret, brushing of his thoughts said, "Whatever, let's just get this done. Nanoha, do your thing."

Nodding, Nanoha began to activate the device when a shock of yellow light blazed across the clearing striking the cat. Spinning around the mages saw another young girl with blond hair and red eyes. She was wearing a black top, white skirt and a long flowing black cloak. The three saw her prepare another blast of yellow light, stunning Yuuno who muttered out, "What? Magical light, It can't be." As the blast reached the giant cat for the second time.

Seeing the other girl attacking the creature Nanoha engaged Raging Heart, as Harry drew the bokken Miyuki had left with him earlier. Nanoha ran towards the cat and with her wish to go faster Raging Heart announced "FLYER FIN" and glowing pink wing of magical light erupted from her feet as she rose into the air. Harry on the other hand was using his enhanced speed and agility to rush towards the unknown mage to ask her why she was there and why she was attacking the cat. Nanoha landed on the giant kittens back just in time to intercept another barrage of lights, but the barrage ended another wave struck at the kittens' feet sending it careering to the floor destroying a tree in the process.

Nanoha landed between the mysterious girl and the stricken kitten, its prone form now easier to defend as it lay, wounded upon the ground. The girl approached the two earth-born mages, Harry jumped into the trees like to meet the girl and called out, "Stop! Why are you here? What are you doing, attacking here?"

"Another mage? One who is seeking the lost logia's." said the newcomer, Harry couldn't get a read on the girl in front of him but he heard Yuuno muttering, "No doubt about it she comes from the same world I do, and she knows the true nature of the jewel seeds." Seeing the device in Nanoha's hands the girl was surprised, "An intelligent device, like my Bardiche." Swinging the staff the head extending and igniting into a golden scythe of magical energy, stunning the two less experienced mages. Harry in response began channelling magical energy through his own weapon hoping it would be enough to counter the energy blade.

Taking a stance the girl said "I'm sorry, but I'll be taking this one with me." And she charged at Nanoha recognising the mage with a device as the bigger threat. Nanoha jumped into the air to avoid a low slash across her legs and Harry dove in hoping to disable the mage while she was distracted. the magic around the blade met the girls barrier jacket, but he was repelled back unable to do more than clip the girls side. Seemingly unfazed by the attack she swung her blade launching a shear of light at Nanoha that met the girl head on, and using her staffs pointed base thrust it out at the boy, who was thrown back a bit along the ground.

In the air Nanoha was recovering from the blast when the mysterious girl flew at her with a swift swing of her scythe that she barely defended against with the staff of Raging Heart. "Why? Why are you attacking us?" Asked Nanoha through the deadlock. The girl replied, "You wouldn't understand, even if I told you." This seemed to irritate Nanoha and with a growl of exertion and indignation the two separated.

Nanoha landed before the cat and changed her device to its shooting mode and the girl landed in a tree her device once more becoming a staff in her hands. Hearing the cat stir behind her Nanoha turned away to see it begin to rise behind her. Taking this opportunity the mysterious girl shot a blast of magic towards the other mage, however as she launched the blast Harry used his blade to break the branch of the tree she was standing on sending her falling to the floor. The girl landed painfully but the blast she had sent reached Nanoha before Harry could do anything more than land safely on the ground.

Yuuno caught the now unconscious girl with a shield spell and the girl seeing Harry distracted by his fallen friend struck out at the boy catching him off his guard sending him to the floor in pain. She then flew off to the cat as Harry gathered himself moving towards his friends. The unknown girls device transformed at her call into what looked like a spear with four projections of light around the head of the staff. A ball of lightening formed before the end and swinging the staff it moved into the ground and trailed through the earth towards the cat.

The feline was electrocuted painfully and after what seemed like a minute of this the jewel seed appeared in the sky above the cat. "Alright Bardiche, seal it." called the girl to the staffs response of "SEALING" she swung the spear like staff into the air opening a hole in the sky of clouds and darkness from which spears of lightening rained down on the unconscious cat and the area beneath it began to glow. With a final all prevailing blast of light from a magic circle overhead the seed was sealed and the girl approached the gem and returned it to her staff.

Turning to the unconscious girl and seeing Harry standing between them his blade drawn defensively. The two locked eyes for a moment before she turned around and walked calmly away. Seeing that there was nothing to be done and Harry collapsed to the floor once the girl was out of sight. "Well shit." Muttered Harry in English, eloquently summing up his feelings on what had just happened. Turning to Yuuno he said, "So, that's what a fight between mages is like." Sighing to himself he looked to the sky saying, "I could barely scratch her and I'm pretty sure she didn't even see me as a treat, with the way she kept gunning for Nanoha."

Yuuno didn't comment just leaving the boy to lick his wounds for the moment. Eventually Harry gathered himself together enough to collect Nanoha and the kitten and drag himself back towards the house. Yuuno deactivated Raging Heart as they approached and Harry called out for Kyouya saying that Nanoha had been knocked out when a tree fell near her and she dove to catch the kitten and landed badly, hoping to explain how she had fallen unconscious like she had. Soon enough they determined she just had a few bruises and was left to sleep it of in Suzuka's room.

* * *

Nanoha awoke at around sunset to see the others surrounding her with looks of concern on their faces. Harry sent her the story telepathically, knowing she hated lying to her friends and family, he didn't like lying so much either but knew that the truth would bring more trouble than it was worth at this point in time. After reassuring the others that she was OK the Takamachi's with Yuuno and Harry set off for the bus and that night the three mages had a long conversation through telepathy about the girl and what had happened that day.

They talked deep into the night about the girl and the battle. They talked about Yuuno's suspicion about the girl coming from his world and what that could mean for them. About magic and how they could have used it in the fight, what went well and what hadn't. They talked about the girl and how she had fought them, what they could have done differently. Finally it was Harry who told them how she had said she was sorry before the final attack she had sent at Nanoha, that left them hoping to understand this mysterious girl. After talking it though it wasn't fear they felt at the possibility of once more facing the girl but sadness at the thought of not being able to reach through to the girl with some of the saddest eyes that Nanoha had ever seen.

As they thought on the girl deep into the night they never knew that she was thinking on them to.

* * *

Author Notes

sorry this took so long to write I got a new job and then fired from that job so I had to sign on again at the job center and look for work again and writeing just kept getting put to the bottom of the list of priorities.

a big thankyou to everyone who favorited, followed or reviewed this for helping me keep motivated hopefully I will have another chapter out in a few days to a week.


	6. Chapter 6

Harry Potter and the Broken Starlight

Chapter 6

It was the vacation season in Japan and as the weather was starting to heat up the holiday makers all across the country were flocking to their various destinations. For the Dursley's this meant a week off to return to Brittan as a retreat from the hot Japanese weather and return to gloat to their former neighbours and visit Vernon's sister Marge and various other acquaintances. This however left them with the problem of what to do with the constant annoyance in their lives that was one Harry James Potter.

In a bout of inspired pragmatism on Vernon's part they had decided to leave the boy locked in his room at their apartment with a loaf of bread and a few bottles of water. To any ordinary child this would have seemed like a terrible thing to be done to them, to Harry however this meant that he would have a week to himself free from his relatives watchful eyes. As soon as the Dursley's small car was out of sight from his window he gathered up his cloths and language tapes into a bag and climbed out onto the balcony.

Making sure nobody was around to see him he quickly jumped over the balconies edge to the floor below. Before he could become a red puddle on the ground a glowing red circle appeared beneath his feet slowing him to a standstill only millimetres from the concreate floor. Stepping off the barrier spell it faded away without his magic to power it, he then moved to his hidden cache with all his emergency supplies and the precious thing he hid from the Dursley's.

Taking some of his meagre savings from working at the Midori-ya and the bokken he received from Miyuki he looked up at the sky thinking about what he would do for the week. He knew that the girls were going on a trip to the hot springs, he had been invited along but couldn't really agree to go because he didn't know what the Dursley's would be doing, they would never let him go if they had known. Then he remembered something that he had seen in one of Alisa's manga that could work well for him. Camping, he could ask Nanoha about the hot springs the others were visiting and look up the area online, then he could just camp nearby. He might even find a jewel seed or something.

*Hey, Nanoha, are you there.* he probed telepathically.

*Morning Harry. What's up?* replied Nanoha relaxed tone. Harry smiling at the thought that he wasn't truly alone like he would have been a year ago replied *Not much, I was just wondering about the area you guys were going to this week.* vaguely avoiding asking too much, hoping for just enough information to give him a direction. *Oh, it's a hot spring in the hills to the east of the city.* explains Nanoha *We left the employees in charge of the Midori-ya and were all headed there. Why did you want to know, I thought you weren't coming?*

Harry knowing he had been caught out quickly explained the Dursley's trip back to England for the week, and his plans to go camping while they were away. He admits that he planned to go near to where she and Yuuno were in case something went wrong or he came across a jewel seed or something. In the end she said she wouldn't tell the others about his plan as long as he kept in contact with her and Yuuno while he out there. Harry could tell that she was somewhat distracted though but was unsure on how to ask her about it until Yuuno interrupted their conversation.

*Nanoha, come on, it's a vacation your supposed to be relaxing now.* said the ferret to his friend. Nanoha smiled at him and saying *I know that. I'm ok.*

Harry knew she had been thinking about the girl they had run into a few weeks before and the jewel seeds. He agreed with Yuuno that she needed to relax and was glad that her family holiday came up, thinking he would settle her mind a little he said *Enjoy your vacation then Nanoha, I'll call again tonight. I'll call you immediately if anything comes up so just relax and enjoy yourselves.* before switching to Yuuno to see if he knew and simple spells to help with camping.

* * *

It was mid-afternoon by the time Harry settled down in a clearing in the forests around the hot springs where the others were staying. He had gotten a small pot and some other food supplies to last him the week on the mountain with his savings, he'd even gotten his blanket from his room and some rope and tarpauling form a building site in case he needed to make a shelter in the nights. As it turned out Yuuno did know some simple spells for things like starting a campfire and gathering clean water that he'd learned from his clan and was all too happy to teach to the wayward explorer.

Harry had spent the day on the train to the edge of the city, past the suburbs and then used his magic to climb through the trees until he was a good few miles into the forest, not far from the others at all. He set about making a camp near a creak that ran off from the springs with warm water. Once he had his campsite prepared he was unsure of what he could be doing out in the woods. He decided to go and gather some wood for the fire, selecting dry fallen branches from the forest floor and some dead leaves to start off the blaze.

Soon after that he got a frantic telepathic message from Nanoha and Yuuno. *Harry!* cried out Nanoha, *are you OK?* asked the girl in a worried tone. Harry was surprised to hear from his friends so soon sent back, *Yeah, sure. What's up?* It was Yuuno who explained, *We encountered another mage here at the hot springs, she seemed to know the girl from the other day and she was rather aggressive towards us. She also seemed surprised that you weren't here, have you seen anything where you are?*

Harry was surprised to hear about yet another mage running about but he hadn't seen much of anyone in the forest. *I haven't seen anything here, but I'll keep an eye out for trouble. I have my sword with me just in case and was going to spend the afternoon practicing anyway.* calming the others with the news that he hadn't seen anybody around so he was probably safe where he was.

* * *

After returning to camp Harry set up the fire and set about practicing with his bokken. He worked through his warm up's and moved onto practice strokes working up a sweat that he washed off in the warm river water. After that he went through the Kata Miyuki had taught him before moving on to his magic practice, going through the basic spells Yuuno had taught him and practicing reinforcing himself with magic as he moved through the Kata. By the time the sun started to set he stretched once more and began to cook himself a simple meal.

He took his pot and used magic to fill it with clean water before setting it over the fire, then he added some pre-cut vegetables and some dried meat into the pot before adding some seasonings. Soon he added some dried noodles to the mix before calling out, "You might as well come out and sit down. Neither of us are going anywhere and we might as well talk."

Soon a rustling sound came from the woods behind and out stepped the mage girl he and the others had encountered at the Tsukimura's mansion. "How long did you know I was there?" asks the girl taciturnly. "Since just before I started to warm down." Admits Harry, taking the stew of the fire and poring a bowlful out for each of them. He then passes the girl a bowl saying, "Eat up, you just watched me make it, I know I probably can't out run you, or beat you in a straight fight as I am. If you were going to attack me you'd have already done it." Surprising the other mage as he tucked in to the food. She started eating herself once her stomach started rumbling at the smell of the simple meal.

The pair said nothing as they ate, and when the two finished Harry took the bowls and pot and washed them off in the river before setting them away and retrieving a book from his bag and setting some more wood to the fire. The two remained in silence until the girl quietly asked "Why? Why did you call me out like that?"

Harry thought about it for a second before he said, "Honestly? Curiosity. You seem like an ok person, last time we met you could have killed Nanoha, but when you fired that last shot I heard you apologise, I was just curious about what sort of person you are. That and we seem to be at a bit of a stalemate, with us hear and Nanoha and your partner at the resort, if we had fought it probably would have spread to them and that would have been more trouble than it was worth." He said as he turned the page of the book he was reading.

"Did you find your answers then." She asks somewhat surprising herself with the reply. "Somewhat," he replies, "just one thing though, who are you collecting the jewel seeds for? You don't seem to care for them personally, and from what Nanoha told me your partner seems more concerned for you than the seeds." Closing his book and looking into the girls red eyes. After a moment she gets up and starts to walk off into the forest. Before she disappears, he hears her mutter back to him, "My mother, I'm collecting the jewel seeds for her." Leaving the mage alone in the woods with his book.

* * *

Once the girl had left Harry contacted Nanoha and Yuuno about meeting the girl in the forest, *Nanoha, Yuuno are you guys still awake.* he sent hoping he hadn't disturbed them. *We are, we were just talking about the woman from earlier, do you guys think she has anything to do with the girl in black?* asks Nanoha. Harry laughed a bit at the question before replying, *she certainly didn't deny it when I brought it up earlier. I bumped into her as I was cooking my dinner, the girl not the woman.*

There was a moment of silence before *WHAAAT!* rang though his mind from both the girl and the ferret followed by what he could only guess was a barrage of questions from the pair but came across as just an un-intelligible barrage of noise. *Relax, she must have come across my camp by accident, it's not like I put a barrier up or something, I just made a pot of stew, called her down when I noticed her in the trees, I offered her a bowl and we had dinner, then she left.* After he assured the others that was all that had happened and they had calmed down Yuuno said, *Harry, Nanoha, I've been thinking about it a lot and after all that's happened I really thing I should jus-*

*STOP IT!* cried Nanoha, *I'll just get mad if you finish that sentence.*

Harry just smiled to himself at his friends antics, *Seriously Yuuno, stop being daft, we both know that Nanoha's too stubborn to give up now,* Nanoha crying, *I'm not stubborn!*, *see what I mean, we're both doing this because we want to, not because you made us or anything. We decided to do this of our own free will, so the consequences of that decision are ours to bare.*

Then Nanoha said *Listen Yuuno, when we started doing this jewel seed collecting business I was just helping you out, but it's different now. I'm doing this because I want to do it, not because I have to.* Picking up Yuuno she sternly says * I'll get mad at you if you leave me behind and try to do this alone, so you can't, OK?* at this the ferret just smiles at his friend and says *yeah.* putting him down Nanoha finishes, *Let's get some rest, OK. You never know their might be something going on again tonight.* before the three settle in to get as much rest as possible.

* * *

Later that night Harry awoke to the increasingly familiar sensation of a jewel seed activating nearby. "Once more into the breach." He mumbles before telepathically calling to the others, grabbing his shirt and bokken, before leaving his improvised lean-to and running towards the source of the disturbance. Harry was following the river upstream arriving just in time to see the girl from before and another older lady with brown hair and ears like a fox or a wolf stood on a bridge crossing the river he had been following. The girl had just finished sealing the jewel seed that had fallen into the river and the pair turned to face Harry, as Nanoha and Yuuno burst through the undergrowth.

"My, my, my, my, didn't you understand what I told you about kids behaving." Said the wolf girl turning to the three mages. She was wearing a black cloak over a short white top and pink hot pants.

Yuuno cried out indignantly, "Wait a minute that's a jewel seed, those things are dangerous. What do you people want with it?"

"Who knows. Besides ferret, I don't have to tell you anything." Called the wolf eared woman flippantly. "I warned you. I thought I was being nice with our chat." Standing up she continued, "You remember the part about getting bitten if you didn't behave." Before her fingers and nails sharpened and with a rippling of hair and muscles she transformed into a great wolf with orange fur, howling into the night sky.

"I knew something was off about her she's the girls familiar." Declared Yuuno, "Familiar?" muttered Nanoha.

The wolf interrupted her question, gruffly explaining, "The ferret's right, I happen to be a magical being she created. She gave me life, I live to serve her, to protect her, I'll use all my power if I have to." Turning to the girl she said "You can go home if you want, I'll be along shortly."

"OK, but be careful." Replied the girl in black as the wolf launched itself at the trio. Yuuno and Harry dove between the beast and Nanoha. "Nanoha, go after the girl." Cried Yuuno as the pair held a shield against the wolf, "go, we've got this." Called Harry. The wolf forced it claws against the shield shouted, "Do you really think I'll let that happen?"

"I'll make sure it happens cries Yuuno activating a teleportation spell. Warping Harry, Yuuno and the wolf away from the bridge. Leaving two girls facing each other staves in hand. "A barrier and a forced transportation spell, you have a really good familiar." Says the mage girl in black impressed with Yuuno's strength. "Your wrong." Denies Nanoha, "Yuuno is not a familiar he's a really good friend of mine, got that!" she said locking eyes with the girl.

"Well, what are you going to do?" asks the mysterious girl. Nanoha asks, "Don't you think we can maybe talk about this, instead of fighting."

"Very well let's talk, I have to collect the shards of the lost logia, the jewel seeds. We have the same goal, so we are enemies, and the only wat for either of us to get what we want is to fight with the jewel seeds as the prize." Stated the girl emphatically. Nanoha frustrated calls out, "Your kidding me! Look before we do any fighting around here I think we really need to talk. Someone could get hurt if we start jumping to conclusions."

The girl just closes her eyes solemnly intoning, "Talking won't change anything, at this point I seriously doubt that words will help." Opening her eyes and raising her staff she declares "Talking's over." Before rushing at Nanoha with blistering speed and taking a swipe with Bardiche from behind her. Nanoha duck below the first blow and activates her flight spell jumping into the air and out of the reach of the second blow. The girl dives after her as Nanoha cries "Stop it, listen to me."

"No. You listen, let's make a bet and whoever wins gets a jewel seed." Returns the girl preparing a spell as Bardiche declares, "PHOTON LANCER, GET SET."

* * *

Meanwhile in the forest below Harry is running with Yuuno on his shoulder, "Dammit, dogs, why is it always dogs?" he bemoaned as he ran through the trees. "stop running away, you can't escape" called the wolf at their heels.

"what is a mage who's powerful enough to create a familiar doing here? What does she know about the jewel seeds? About the lost logia? Tell me!" Demanded Yuuno. "Shut up ferret!" howled the irate wolf as she lunged at the pair. Harry dove out of the way raising his bokken, "I'll hold her hear, Yuuno. Go on ahead and maintain the barrier." He cried as the ferret jumped from his shoulders running deeper into the sea of trees.

The wolf tried to give chase but Harry stood between her and her prey raising a round shield with a blocking motion with his sword. Raising his hand he fired off some weak shots of red light, basic shooting spells that struck the wolf woman across her eyes. The pair were at a standstill neither prepared to commit against their opponent at close range and neither powerful enough to count as a threat with more than weak ranged spells. "Move aside Runt." Growled the irate wolf, only for Harry to reply with a crass comment about his opponents canine nature, in an attempt to make her loose her cool.

Over head the girls were in a battle of wills as waves of powerful met between the pair. "Raging Heart, Please." Begged Nanoha as she overcharged her spell sending a blasting wave directly at the mysterious girl. This signalled a resurgence in the battle bellow as the wolf in her panic for her master muttered, "Nanoha is really strong, and she's holding back." Launched herself at Harry with fangs and claws exposed. Harry with the calm of being faced with a somewhat familiar situation took only a half-step to the side bringing up his blade with a counter strike across his airborne opponents side. Red magical light flared along the wooden blade sending the wolf crashing along the forest floor with the force of both attacks.

In the sky, the girl in black had endured the powerful magical blast from Nanoha and seeing her opponent through the clearing blast let herself twist and fall through the air towards her opponent. Seeing the other girl fall Nanoha relaxed her guard a bit but then as she fell Bardiche declared "SCYTHE SLASH" and Nanoha flinched back as with a twist in the air the falling girl brought the glowing scythe blade to her exposed neck stopping millimetres from cutting open her throat.

Panting deeply the two girls stood in the air, Nanoha at the mercy of the other mage. They remained like this for almost a minute until Raging Heart said, "PULL OUT" releasing a jewel seed to the other girl. "Raging Heart, what are you doing? No stop!" Cried Nanoha, frantic and still at blade point to the other girl, who seeing the actions of the device said, "it cares very much about its master." Before taking the jewel seed and moving to the ground calling out, "let's go home, Alph."

In an orb of light the wolf transformed once more into a woman, gloating loudly, "That's my master! The best mage ever, see ya, kiddies." Just for Harry to call back, "yeah, yeah, let's just call this a draw for now, I'll call you next time I need to mop the floor and polish my sword." Causing Alph to face fault at his crass reply before jumping away in a huff.

The pair began to walk away as Nanoha was landing, "Wait!" she cried causing the other girl to pause. "If you can help it try to stay far away from us. If we meet again I might not be able to stop myself in time." Said the mysterious girl ominously. Nanoha desperate to connect with the girl called out, "What's your name? At least tell me your name." the other girl paused for a moment as Harry caught up to Nanoha, before saying clearly, "I am called Fate. My name is Fate Testarossa."

"Fate…" mumbled Nanoha before calling out "My name is-" but it was too late as Fate jumped into the air and began to fly away with Alph in a series of jumps. "Byebye." Called the wolf girl as the pair moved off into the distance leaving the two earth born mages to watch as the pair left.

* * *

After Yuuno caught up to the two Harry suggested that they return to his camp for a while to rest after the nights battle. Arriving at the camp and finding everything as he had left it he set about preparing tea over the dying embers of his campfire reigniting it with the spell Yuuno had told him. Nanoha then returned to the hot springs once she had rested and calmed down Yuuno opting to stay with Harry to keep him out of trouble in the forest and to save himself the embarrassment of being caught in the girls bath at the springs.

The week went on and soon the Midori-ya party had left the mountains to return to the city, Harry however opted to stay in the mountains for a few days after they had left. As the week past Harry spent most of his time training either with his bokken or with his magic. Spending the days either working at his physical strength or his magical control. By the end of the week he was starting to run low on food so she started to eat the fish in the stream catching them with shooting spells or binds and cooking them on the fire. Eventually though on his fifth day in the hills he had to return home, to arrive before the Dursley's to pretend that he had never left and had spent the week locked in his room as they had left him.

As he walked down the mountain he thought about the thing that had happened there, of his meetings with Fate and Alph, and of his training in the forest afterwards. Standing at the platform to take the train back to the city he found his fist clenching around the wooden sword at his side. "Next time, Next time we won't lose." He declared tightening his grip on the blade, thinking of his friend, the ones he needed to protect, and thinking of the girl with eyes so much like his own, "Next time." He promised, "You won't either, Fate."

* * *

Author notes

this chapter was a pain to write but I'm finally reasonably satisfied with it, as always you likes and reviews are apreacheated.

to explain some of Harry's characterisation and save myself a load of comments about him being ooc, I think that he is perfectly ok as he is for the parts above, he is a nine year old child, but he is also influenced by his time at the dursleys he recognises fate as someone much like himself, that is broken in such a way as to be almost fanaticaly loyal to those who have earned his trust, in cannon that's hagrid, dumles, and the weasleys and hermeone in that order. even going so far as to literally die for them in the end. in this his sole reason for helping with the jewel seeds is loyalty to Nanoha and the girls and later Yuuno for teaching him magic. fate is like this towards her mother and alph to a lesser degree. the two are basically kindered spirits, no that dose not mean I will be shiping the two, I plan on maybe making it harry alisa or maybe harry hayate, or even harry random Hogwarts girl, but for now he's nine you sick weirdos I'm not even thinking about it.


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